With 2019 well and truly out of the way, it's time to look back at the best-selling games of the year in Nintendo's home country of Japan.
The following list comes from Famitsu's estimated sales tracking data. As you can see, Pokémon Sword and Shield romped home to victory with a whopping 2,988,134 estimated sales. The games achieved this tremendous feat despite only launching in mid-November, selling nearly three million copies in Japan in that time.
Nine of the top ten positions are actually held by Nintendo Switch titles, with Kingdom Hearts III being the sole PS4 game to make the list. The closest challenger to Pokémon was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate which remains the best-selling Switch game of all time in Japan so far - if Pokémon's recent success in Japan continues, however, we imagine that title might be lost fairly soon.
Here's the top ten (thanks, MCV):
Ranking | Platform | Title | Publisher | Release Date | Copies Sold/Year (Estimated) |
Cumulative Copies Sold (Estimated) |
1 | Switch | Pokémon Sword and Shield | The Pokémon Company | 11/15/19 | 2,988,134 | 2,988,134 |
2 | Switch | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Nintendo | 12/7/18 | 1,092,397 | 3,453,052 |
3 | PS4 | Kingdom Hearts III | Square Enix | 1/25/19 | 861,226 | 861,226 |
4 | Switch | Super Mario Maker 2 | Nintendo | 6/28/19 | 800,504 | 800,504 |
5 | Switch | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe | Nintendo | 1/11/19 | 747,589 | 747,589 |
6 | Switch | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | Nintendo | 4/28/17 | 628,712 | 2,659,009 |
7 | Switch | Minecraft | Microsoft Japan | 6/21/18 | 620,894 | 1,145,939 |
8 | Switch | Luigi’s Mansion 3 | Nintendo | 10/31/19 | 505,998 | 505,998 |
9 | Switch | Super Mario Party | Nintendo | 10/5/18 | 498,857 | 1,263,710 |
10 | Switch | Ring Fit Adventure | Nintendo | 10/18/19 | 495,639 | 495,639 |
The Nintendo Switch family of systems had an impressive year on the hardware side of things, too. Combined, the Switch and Switch Lite's 2019 performances saw the system's sales rise by 29% - a direct contrast to the PS4 family of systems' 29% fall.
A very good year indeed, then!
Comments 21
Only reason PS4 Kingdom Hearts 3 is in that list is because that game isn't on the Switch.
(Why though, Square Enix?!!)
Yes it is pretty impressive, but let's be honest was their any real competition in 2019 in that regard. No big first party sony games made 2019 rather easy for Nintendo to win in Japan
Ring Fit Adventure, a £70 (don't know yen cost) niche fitness game with supply issues was the tenth best selling game of the year. Incredible stuff.
The table is broken on mobile
Wow. I'm speechless 😶
I don’t know why but I expect KH to have a higher number of sales.
@Arnold-Kage the other thing is that Sony these days seem more focussed on the western market first, almost at the expense of their home market, all their first party stuff sinks without trace in Japan pretty quickly.
@sanderev The other games (1.5, 2.5 and 2.8) are coming to XB1 sometime in 2020 so Switch versions probably aren't far behind.
And of the nine in the top ten, four of them were released before 2019. Hell, Mario Kart was relased in 2017! Now that's what you call legs.
Considering last years first Nintendo direct we got the Sqenix mega FF drop. Here’s hoping that in this years initial direct we get a release of the Kingdom hearts collection so I can catch up. Have only played the first one on PS2.
Also with a Pokemon direct in the first week of the year followed by a Smash/Fire emblem direct this week fingers crossed we get a Nintendo direct next week to keep up the momentum. But that is just dreaming I guess.
Living on the hype train
Fire Emblem isn't even on the list, being outsold by at least 3 games that only came out the last quarter of the year. So much for FE craze in Japan.
I'm 100% sure Kingdom Hearts is coming to Switch. Not sure if or how they could get KH3 on there but rest assured the others are coming...
@WiltonRoots
That does not sound like an smart strategy if you ask me. Still have to agree that their current ip does seem more focused on an western audience
@Tourer145
Expecting the same ,but they could also bring their other ips to the system I suspect.
All of those games deserve it IMO. Charts like this sometimes make me wish I was born in Japan. XD It beats a lot of the stuff that charts in other territories.
@Arnold-Kage Yeah I mean with the PS5 looming large the last thing they want is to end up in a Microsoft situation over there - software sells the console, if your console has software that only appeals to a certain market and alienates another it won't matter how much power your machine has. Especially as we're now past the point of them having the media format option as a backup.
Feels like Nintendo has a total complete monopoly in Japan
@Amin_Parker Naw that would mean they did something dirty to block rivals. Nintendo just did better via quality and merit.
@WiltonRoots Sony's probably keeping an eye out for Microsoft, since they not only share the same audience, but are also releasing their next console this year around the same time. I imagine they'll be setting up a big independent press conference for it outside of E3, since they're skipping it. It should be interesting to see what both parties have on offer, and where Switch fits into things.
Wow, I didn't think Nintendo had THAT much power in Japan. Kingdom Hearts 3 was the only title to squeeze in there, making it VERY good that PS5 is backwards compatible.
I kind of can't believe Pokemon's nearly outsold Smash in two months when the latter's been out for a year. Biggest surprise though: Ring Fit Adventure making it onto the list. That game HAS to be hitting 1 million sales soon, but 500k alone is impressive.
@WiltonRoots
Indeed and let's be honest the Japanese market is huge. Or else microsoft would not have tried so hard to get in.
On the other hand sony has bin targeting teen and adult market the most these last few years.
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