Earlier this month, Nintendo Switch celebrated its second anniversary and, to celebrate, Japanese publication Famitsu has shared a list of some of the best-selling games released on the console so far.
To be more specific, this is a list of the top 20 best-selling Switch retail games in Japan since the console launched in 2017, correct as of 24th February 2019. We're sure you can guess the majority of these - if you haven't had a sneaky peek at the list below already, why not have a go at jotting down your 20 guesses before reading on? - but perhaps one or two will surprise you.
Ready? Then let's take a look at the full list (figures are total sales as of the date mentioned above):
1. Splatoon 2 – 2,980,986
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 2,885,281
3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 2,185,049
4. Super Mario Odyssey – 1,940,587
5. Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! – 1,425,935
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 1,244,404
7. Super Mario Party – 950,680
8. Kirby Star Allies – 695,303
9. Minecraft – 651,275
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 465,742
11. 1-2-Switch – 449,437
12. ARMS – 425,881
13. Mario Tennis Aces – 400,018
14. Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! – 306,250
15. Pokkén Tournament DX – 301,429
16. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate – 254,017
17. Dragon Quest Builders 2 – 249,889
18. Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit – 240,926
19. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – 227,296
20. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 – 221,234
A fairly predictable list? Any surprises at all? And if you played along, how many did you get? Let us know down below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 36
I would love to know the figures elsewhere, XENOBLADE numbers are very low, wonder what it sold like elsewhere, also if thats 220k i really think some software barely sold!!
Also didnt Xenoverse sell really well in Japan or was that my imagination?
Fun fact, top three games feature playable Inklings. Coincidence?
@Mooj738 it sold well for a JRPG (best in the series and in line with other in the genre (apart from FF and DQ that are beasts))
Edit: for instance persona 5 ,a game nominated for game of the year, has sold about 2M copies worldwide
I know Xenoblade 2 hit the million mark worldwide thank goodness cuz that game is beautiful. Even though I bought the season pass I even got Torna physically just cuz.
So 200K over there seems to be pretty good. Just glad to see it in the top 20 even if it's last place. Hope it keeps selling as one of the best RPG'S for the switch although DQ11 and Persona 5 will be obliterating it in sales lol.
PS4 Top 20 as of this year (February) in Japan:
20 Dragon Quest Heroes 2 280,542
19 Marvel’s Spider-Man 307,511
18 Resident Evil 2 324,079
17 Dragon Quest Heroes 329,934
16 Dark Souls III 332,703
15 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard 343,382
14 Yakuza 6: The Song of Life 367,965
13 Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition 370,038
12 Call of Duty: Black Ops III 385,147
11Grand Theft Auto V (Price Revisioned Edition) 386,044
10 Call of Duty: WWII 387,498
9 Persona 5 399,213
8 Knack 400,888
7 NieR: Automata 407,637
6 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 442,032
5 Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 499,765
4 Kingdom Hearts 3 722,201
3 Final Fantasy XV 1,036,879
2 Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age 1,368,698
1 Monster Hunter: World 1,963,522
EDIT: Switch has six games that sold over a million vs. PS4 has three games that sold over a million
How come 12 Switch and Kirby sold so much more than Taiko No Tatsujin? I thought rhythm games are very popular in Japan?
I’m glad to see splatoon 2 on first place. They really seem to appreciate this game. It’s probably the most innovative shooter of last decade.
@UnbreakableAlex 1 2 Switch was a launch title and heavily advertised, so it racked up a good amount of sales during the initial dry months. Taiko No Tatusjin is a game that has an expensive peripheral, far more competition at release, and has been out far less time.
@UnbreakableAlex In addition to what @link3710 said, it is a REALLY popular arcade title in japan. There's usually more than one machine in every arcade and a lot of people prefer it to be an arcade experience because they just love arcades (And rhythm games) that much more than the rest of the world. Not to mention that the drum in the arcade is wayyyyy bigger.
Obviously, being a Japanese list, a shooter is inevitably at the top and an RPG is at the bottom...
Wow! Those numbers are high. Glad to see Smash having such a smashing performance!
@Yosher Well, Japan really does like squids. In more than one way in most cases...
Shame xenoblade chronicles 2 only sold 200k+ units.
Then again it still is the best selling game in the series.
Nintendo, Nintendo and more Nintendo. I guess Mario could not get Ubisoft over the top.
So all the hype of "selling out" in Japan for Octopath ends up being less than 200K? No wonder it jumped to Mobile 🙄
Hope Dragon Quest and Astral Chains can post big numbers in Japan
Can I say how shocked I am that Minecraft is still selling? I thought the game was dead.
@Agramonte Octopath sold really well, but definitely looks like most of those sales came from worldwide instead of japan.
@dougphisig yep, We know it hit a million officially. And now that it can be found for $45 it will keep selling
But like Kingdom Battle (last count 2 million) looks like the West did most of that.
Octopath was last seen at 188,238 copies sold in August. If this was the top 25 best selling Switch games, Octopath would be on the list.
Kind of sad to see Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze so low, considering the original SNES Donkey Kong Country games were huge hits in Japan. I know it's a Wii U port, but so are Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros and they're smashing it.
@Agramonte Octopath sold 1.5 million world wide. That's right below Xenoblade 2.
@MysticGengar Would that really be the reason?
@Agramonte
Hard to sell more than 200,000 copies when you only ship 200,000 copies.
I love numbers. Splatoon2 and Smash Ultimate are gonna three MILLION apiece any day now. Wow.
@Agramonte if it wasn't selling well Square Enix wouldn't consider bringing more games to the switch. or making another Octopath game for consoles. (which was confirmed alongside of the mobile prequel game.)
so, it's doing well enough to have these happening.
@Aozz101x We already covered that it sold well enough thanks to the West. And that as an iP it was not worth keeping as a Switch exclusive.
@westman98 There has been stock for months now. Obvious this "Sold Out" in japan not because a big rush at retail but because the launch shipment were tiny.
By this logic. Every single Switch 2018 release in this top 20 would have "sold out" also (and every PS4 game)
Nice PR trick until hard numbers come out 😏🙄
@Agramonte
Octopath is a single-player JRPG with no multiplayer or post-launch support/DLC. A game like this selling out in its first 2 month will kill off a large portion of its potential retail sales. Digital and second-hand sales were abnormally high for this game as a result.
1.5 million total copies sold worldwide puts Octopath in the same range as titles like Nier or Persona 5, so I doubt Square/Nintendo is too perturbed about lackluster retail-only sales in Japan.
@westman98 Again, non of that has nothing to do with my post. That the hype of it selling out in Japan at launch had more to do with a tiny shipment and not massive sales. And Already covered that the West saved it.
And obviously they want more - why they are going Mobile with the IP (and probably multi platform)
@Agramonte
Small launch shipments will lead to small retail launch sales and larger than expected digital + second hand sales. For a game like Octopath (single-player only JRPG with no DLC or post launch content), once you limit the retail launch sales, you never really get them back.
@westman98 And you are welcome to debate that point. Just using my comment as a spring board makes no sense as my post is about the retail reality behind the sell out (now that we have hard numbers) not the consequences of it.
Either way, hopefully next time they will have more units on hand.
@Agramonte
To be clear: people bought Octopath in Japan. Just not necessarily brand new at retail only...
@UnbreakableAlex Kirby is SUPER popular in Japan. He always ends up on the top or close to the top in favorite character lists. The games do very well there more than anywhere. So I'm not surprised.
@westman98 yep... 100% agree - No doubt that happened
@Yosher
Who knows. It's just a bit... too much of a coincidence.
@Galarian_Lassie is this the same time frame as the switch (since march 2017) or is it since the launch the original ps4?
@MisterDevil Since the launch of the PS4 (in Japan). 2 years after the Japanese launch of the PS4, there were 0 games that sold 1 million copies on the PS4 in Japan with MGSV being the highest selling game at over 437,000 copies sold.
@Galarian_Lassie oh thanks... this is crazy to get to know how 'bad' PS4 games are selling...
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