Earlier today we shared Famitsu numbers covering the Splatoon 2 launch in Japan; now Media Create has weighed in as well. Media Create brings a lower figure, but it's still the biggest Switch game launch to date, and also led to significant hardware sales.
Splatoon 2 may be the dominant arrival in this week's Japanese software charts with 648,085 sales at retail, but a big mention should also go to Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires' Conspiracy, which made its debut on 3DS in second place with 70,867 units sold. This number is down on the launch figures for the original series on 3DS, but it's worth remembering that this title has already been available on smart devices and that will have reduced the market.
Back to Splatoon 2, its launch numbers make it (comfortably) the biggest Switch game launch so far and it's already passed Media Create's lifetime figure for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Up to the end of June 1.12 million Switch systems had been sold in Japan, so even accounting for sales in July we already have around 50% of system owners in Japan buying the game over the course of a weekend. Also of note this week are modest openings for Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star and Cars 3: Driven to Win in 7th and 16th places respectively.
- [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo, 07/21/17) – 648,085 (New)
- [3DS] Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaires’ Conspiracy (Level-5, 07/20/17) – 70,867 (New)
- [3DS] Hey! Pikmin (Nintendo, 07/13/17) – 21,628 (87,494)
- [3DS] Sumikko Gurashi: Koko, Doko Nan Desu? (Nippon Columbia, 07/20/17) – 20,883 (New)
- [PS4] Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (Square Enix, 07/13/17) – 19,049 (119,813)
- [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 12,980 (588,028)
- [NSW] Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star (Limited Edition Included) (Marvelous, 07/20/17) – 10,247 (New)
- [NSW] Arms (Nintendo, 06/16/17) – 7,984 (177,987)
- [PS4] Gundam Versus (Limited Edition Included) (Bandai Namco, 07/06/17) – 6,665 (143,844)
- [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Limited Edition Included) (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 5,989 (543,016)
- [3DS] Pokemon Sun / Pokemon Moon (Nintendo, 11/18/16) – 5,276 (3,295,102)
- [PS4] Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] (Arc System Works, 07/20/17) – 5,013 (New)
- [3DS] Ever Oasis (Nintendo, 07/13/17) – 4,511 (18,835)
- [3DS] Monster Hunter XX (Capcom, 03/16/17) – 3,354 (1,546,392)
- [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition (SIE, 03/19/15) – 3,331 (1,180,284)
- [NSW] Cars 3: Driven to Win (Warner Bros., 07/20/17) – 3,220 (New)
- [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf Amiibo+ (Nintendo, 11/23/16) – 3,201 (205,098)
- [PSV] World Election (Limited Edition Included) (GN Software, 07/20/17) – 3,017 (New)
- [PS4] Grand Theft Auto V (Low Price Version) (Take-Two, 10/08/15) – 2,792 (366,844)
- [NSW] 1-2-Switch (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 2,636 (233,737)
Hardware sales also reflect the Splatoon 2 effect on the Nintendo Switch, despite supply struggling to meet demand. The Switch shifted almost 100,000 units, while the New 2DS XL continues to be the best performer in the 3DS family.
- Switch – 98,999 (31,906)
- PlayStation 4 – 23,841 (28,569)
- New 2DS LL – 17,717 (43,315)
- New 3DS LL – 13,108 (12,101)
- PlayStation 4 Pro – 7,037 (7,649)
- PlayStation Vita – 4,545 (4,655)
- 2DS – 2,300 (1,901)
- New 3DS – 1,020 (1,242)
- Wii U – 176 (146)
- PlayStation 3 – 142 (129)
- Xbox One – 77 (200)
An excellent week for Nintendo overall, with Splatoon 2 generating huge interest in Japan; the scramble to meet demand will no doubt continue in this coming week, too.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 52
That's hardly a surprise! Japan loved the first game, I believe and the second one did even better.
Looks like splatoon 2 had a better launch than all the 3ds games on that list combined... Except for monster hunter XX and pokemon.
If we subtract those the 3ds has a total of 403,177 sales, compared with splatoon 2's 648,085 sales. Not bad for a game on it's second title.
What's really surprising is how they even sold Switches. How many are they even managing to get out a week?
The Nintendo Switch's Path to World Domination continues.
Hey Pikmin, you suck! Well it looks like fun anyways but not at 40$. I will get it at some point but for 20$ or less.
Glad to see Splatoon 2 doing well but was there any doubt?!
Oh and I see them going back to 20k or less figures for next week for Switch sales as I believe they were holding systems back for Splatoon 2.
So... did they get extra stock out before Splatoon 2's release, or were all those Switches just sitting there?
Dare I say Splatoon 2 will do better in Japan then Mario Odyssey? The 3d Mario's don't seem to sell as well in Japan as the rest of the world.
In hindsight it's easy to claim that Splatoon/Splatoon 2 would do well but I remember the original's reveal and initial reviews - people weren't convinced.
I'm glad we are now in an era where a Wii U launched new IP outsells lifetime BotW and MK8D sales in its first weekend. Well.. in Japan anyway (surely global figures would be north of 2m by now?)
@Aaron09 Judging from the articles we've seen on this site recently, the former. Nintendo must've set aside a significant number of units for Splatoon 2's launch.
@Aaron09 I think the theory is that Nintendo held back stock over the past few weeks (you can see a noticeable drop in sale figures).
Whilst not 100% accurate I would suggest that Nintendo can sell as many Switch as they can physically make.
Wow!! That's great!
What? It didn't reach 99,000 units sold. FAILURE!
Excellent sales for Splatoon 2. This was always going to be its biggest market. Big drop off in sales for the New 2DS XL in only its second week. Its debut was hardly spectacular but it does have limited appeal and its own particular market.
Next weeks Switch hardware sales will be interesting.
Why do Famitsu and Media Create have different figures? Which one is the right amount sold?
Either way they're some good numbers. I really hope Nintendo can keep up the momentum. I think they'll be fine for the rest of the year, hopefully hitting their predictions. What I'm starting to worry about is its lineup for 2018. There's no way Nintendo can put out as many big hitters as they have this year, is there? We'll see I guess.
@Spoony_Tech Almost certainly you're right regarding Splatoon 2 doing better in Japan than Mario Odyssey.
Am I reading this right? You mean to tell me the 2/3DS family is still selling PS4 level numbers on a weekly basis, even after being on the market for more than 6 years? No wonder Nintendo does not pursue hardware.
Wow, Splatoon 2 did amazingly well!
Poor Fate/Extella, but I guess that's what happens when a third party tries competing head-on with a hotly anticipated first party title. Nights of Azure 2 will probably get curb stomped when it releases thanks to the fact that it's launching a few days before Mario Odyssey.
@Spoony_Tech It outsold MK8 and Zelda in its opening week. Odyssey has no chance against Splatoon 2 in Japan.
@Moon Because they're estimates. Give or take a few percent, it's the best people can do. You cannot track every single purchase individually.
@Moon They count the numbers differently. Media Create is considered to be more accurate, though the true amount sold is probably somewhere in the middle, so ~100k Switches.
@Octane @IceClimbers Interesting. Thanks to you both.
@Moon They're both guestimates but Media Create is regarded by some as being more accurate. As others have said, the true number probably lies somewhere in between the 2 numbers.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Cheers. I wonder why Media Create are more accurate?
Whatever the case, what a great week for Nintendo. 130,000+ hardware units sold and 14 of the top 20 games. Not bad.
INSANELY AMAZING !!
LOL at xbox one.
Poor little creatures... I mean little box that Japanese almost never care about.
The reason why still some Japanese care about xbox maybe because the Kinect.
Some Japanese (Or maybe quite more) gamers like to play Dance Evolution Arcade by Konami, a Dancing machine arcade with Kinect features that was born from xbox 360. So, I must owe Microsoft about Kinect just only for Dance Evolution game despite of almost no interest for me with xbox products.
Sensational figures! And even ARMS has some legs.
That's great news for Nintendo! My son and I are really enjoying it. Really glad to see the Switch doing so well. I sure hope we start seeing more third party titles. I really love being able to play anywhere. Would be awesome if Nintendo makes their next console a more powerful version, Switch 2.0.
Wow. Guessing that Splatoon 2 could cross over into a million in it's second week, if not definitely third.
@Aaron09 I suspect they had a large number set aside for the Splatoon 2 bundle. Glad to see the system still selling like hot cakes.
Great numbers for Nintendo
@Mahe Signalling Mahe!
So, is it fair to say that Splatoon is already Nintendo's #2 franchise in Japan, after Pokemon? If so, hopefully we'll start getting spin-offs before long. A game in which you can explore Inkopolis more thoroughly would be up there on my list.
Either way, incredible numbers, and thoroughly deserved.
@Anti-Matter Xbox one sales are probably westerners studying over there or working? 77 is just so low it has to be a very small demographic like foreign students.
Was there any doubt? The Big N is on quite a roll.
This will happen again next month with Monster Hunter XX in Switch...
Nintendoom, they sould have sold 125k Switches. :/
I wonder how many of the 100k consoles where Splatoon 2 packs.
@Grawlog Owwww of course. Good call with military personnel.
That Splatoon 2 opening is incredible. Its launch has outsold Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 deluxe, both of which have sold incredibly well. Arms and Final Fantasy 12 doing good warms my soul. The low opening sales for Fate/EXTELLA is unsurprising, it looks terrible compared to the other musou games on the market.
I keep having visions of King Dedede yelling at a bunch of Waddle Dees "Make more Switches minions...yah!"
Good job Nintendo.
@Moon Well, if Pokemon, and Metroid Prime 4 come out, as well as SMT, and then Kirby and Yoshi too, then it's a decent lineup for now. Fluff that with Pikmin 4 if it happens to come out next year and 2018 doesn't look too bad.
Damn...
@Aaron09 great question. Same thing I was thinking. It took me forever to find another one here in the U.S of A. I wonder where those extra Switch's popped up at.
Imagine how popular it would be if Nintendo's voice chat solution was better.
Thats great for japan. Hopefully those numbers will start to convince alot more third parties developer to come on board.
@BigBluePanda in theory, it could cross it in its first full week, since this is only 3-days of sales, but given that it's already sold to something like 3/4s of the Japanese userbase, that might be difficult.
Those are some INSANE Japanese numbers for Splatoon 2. It's a shame about Ever Oasis though. It seems to have tanked both in Europe and it's Native Japan. It no doubt has sold poorly stateside as well
@Anti-Matter I'm an Xbox One owner(and proud of it) and even I have to admit that I play a little game with the numbers week after week.
Its kinda of a fun little game to see what the numbers will be this week. But then again, no American system has ever seen success in Japan.
Even Atari in their glory days with the 2600 could not even make a dent over there. Japan simply wants nothing to do with American game consoles.
Which is kinda a shame because alot of Japanese developers ignore the Xbox One unless its a franchise like Final Fantasy, Tekken, or stuff like Dragon Ball games that have a large audience in the west.
But stuff like Dragon Quest XI? I'll never see that on the Xbox One. Thank goodness I have my 2DS and someday a Switch!
@xPH03N1Xx86 Don't forget the new Fire Emblem and whatever Retro Studios/Sakurai are working on
@Caryslan why not? KH3 is on xbox one
DQ XI sales will be very interesting to see next week
New 2DS XL sales will probably rise back up when DQXI releases, but sales will probably collapse afterwards until Pokémon Ultra Sun/Moon
Layton Mystery Journey is the worst selling Layton game in over a decade. It's time for Level-5 to make the Switch.
Wii U got more sales this week than xb1? I wonder what sorcery is this......
@Toadie I totally did forget Fire Emblem, which I shouldn't have, as it's my favorite series
@Jasspur Voice chat would not affect sales that much in Japan, I'm pretty sure. Voice chat is definitely something much more popular in Western countries.
Poor Ever Oasis...
@chriiiiiiiiiis That is probably true. The people here in America like to say not so nice things to each other while playing online. That is something I've enjoyed on the Switch. Not everyone plays COD, the community is friendly, and its more diverse.
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