Just yesterday, we revealed that - as of 26th August - the Nintendo Switch had sold 4.966 million units in Japan. This number was expected to reach five million with another weeks' sales, and the latest sales figures show that it has indeed hit that milestone.
As of 2nd September, the console has shifted 5,007,368 units in the region since its launch in March 2017. The console's top-selling games have also been revealed with everyone's favourite squid-based shooter taking a very healthy lead. Below, you can see the top five games, their initial launch dates, and the all-important sales figures.
- Splatoon 2 (07/21/17) – 2,621,928 units
- Super Mario Odyssey (10/27/17) – 1,788,228 units
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (04/28/17) – 1,738,502 units
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (03/03/17) – 1,065,780 units
- Kirby Star Allies (03/16/18) – 591,721 units
We mentioned this yesterday, too, but it's worth noting that the Switch's five million sales total is now only two million behind Sony's PlayStation 4 in Japan, despite the PS4 being on sale for an additional three years. It's a fact that demonstrates the importance of the Japanese market to Nintendo; the Switch has been dominating in the country for some time now, taking a much larger slice of the market share there since its launch than it has in other regions where the PS4 is still very much the leader.
Do you think this Japanese dominance will continue? Are you surprised to see Splatoon 2 beat the likes of Mario and Zelda to the top spot? Let us know your thoughts below.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 22
5 million in Japan alone. These numbers mean more than 50% of Switch owners in Japan have Splatoon 2. That's INSANE.
#Nintendoomed
It's not unexpected, the switch fits so well into a busy life style and has a small footprint for confined spaces. Perfect fit for Japan
Booyah!
Incredible Splatoon results. Nintendo really need to start producing more original IP if they can see results like this from a franchise that's only a few years old.
Who could imagine. A Wii U ip more popular than Mario flagship
Do we have any official numbers on Europe and US?
@Rob3008 To be fair, they keep trying. ARMS hasn't quite taken off, though it's done fine, while I have no idea how Sushi Strikers did. I expect Smash and the Let's Go Pokemon games will have a good end to the year, but I'm sure they're still working on new IP too.
@mauhlin12
Booyah!
That is right, I booyah back.
Noice!
I'm surprised BotW has "only" sold about a million units there. I'm aware Zelda is more popular in the west than in Japan, but still, it's shocking to me to see the actual numbers.
I think it's fair to say that Japan likes squid kids. Can't say I blame them!
Switch will be at 20+ million in 3-4 years in japan, will get close to 3DS numbers. I think it has a shot at 100 million worldwide but it will def need some killer games especially exclusives for it to get that close. Never count the big N out!
@pjzelda 100 mil? I doubt it. I bet 50 in 3 years if they have a game of all of their series. Talking F-Zero, Mother 4, new Country. Most important new Animal Crossing.
That's what I'm talking about!
Splatoon is mainstream in Japan.
It should be like that in all countries.
@mauhlin12 Cyborg's reference equals like.
Considering Nintendo was highly embarrassed about the WiiU’s lack of popularity in Japan and publically stated it would focus on Japan first as a result with the Switch, it is clearly mission accomplished. The Switch has done extremely well globally but the Japanese performance is staggering. They’re wiping the floor with the competition.
Amen !
Nintendo Switch will surpass its target very quickly.
And about Splatoon 2, i think for me it's so contradictive with what i play right now because i CAN accept shooting the Grocks from Dillon's Dead Heat Breakers VR Mini games from Arcade station run by Penny wolf but still UNABLE to accept the Paint shooting from Splatoon 2 despite i knew it's still safe for kids, because whenever i see a shooting games like NERF with 3rd or 1st person view, i always got a flashback feeling about the most hatred rated 18+ FPS games in the universe.
Booyah back at ya!
@Rob3008 I mean, that's a bit of a fallacy. Nintendo's been releasing at least on new IP per year since what, the 90s? And this is just the one that happened to take off. I think the last time any of their IPs grew this fast was... probably Pokemon? Which grew way faster of course.
@cb3 @JJ286 @EmberTune Booyah to the booyah back!
I am not surprised.
@KazooieTooie completely disagree. With hardware upgrades, system price drops and killer games it should happen. You don't think this system will sell like crazy when its $199 or $150. We are only in year two and this is now Nintendos only console. 3DS sold 70+ million and Switch is far superior to it. I'll report back to you in two years and we'll see where we are at 😀
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