Newsflash — Splatoon 3 is still inking all over the charts in Japan (and everywhere, really!). Following last week's bumper sales, this week's Famitsu Japanese charts reveal that, despite an expected drop in sales, the third mollusc-based shooter has still managed to shift an incredible 506,610 physical units. That means physical sales for Splatoon 3 are already almost at 2.5 million copies.
The other big news is Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Offline's release. This offline version of the Japan-exclusive MMORPG has sold nearly three times as many copies on Switch as it has on PlayStation 4 or 5 — but all three releases make up three of the top-five selling games of the week. Dragon Quest is a big deal in Japan, so we're not that surprised at all, but we did have to smile when we saw positions 2, 3, and 4 were all Dragon Quest. Only inklings and octolings can keep the dragon at bay, it seems!
The other new Japanese release this week is Trinity Trigger, FuRyu's co-op action RPG which is due out in the West early next year. The game debuted in 7th with 6,698 units sold, which isn't too bad for a brand new IP. But other than the two other Dragon Quest X versions, it's a Switch-dominated list!
Here's the overall top ten from the week of 12th to 18th September 2022:
- [NSW] Splatoon 3 (Nintendo, 09/09/22) – 506,610 (2,441,290)
- [NSW] Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Offline (Square Enix, 09/15/22) – 143,836 (New)
- [PS4] Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Offline (Square Enix, 09/15/22) – 48,100 (New)
- [PS5] Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Offline (Square Enix, 09/15/22) – 28,371 (New)
- [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 9,661 (4,837,415)
- [NSW] Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo, 04/29/22) – 7,463 (732,175)
- [NSW] Trinity Trigger (FuRyu, 09/15/22) – 6,698 (New)
- [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 6,629 (2,792,678)
- [NSW] Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Nintendo, 03/25/22) – 5,027 (888,934)
- [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo, 12/07/18) – 4,720 (4,976,532)
Hardware sales have seen the Xbox Series S sales increase to an impressive 13,211 units (thanks to a promotion which saw customers receive a 5,000 yen gift card if they purchased a Series S), but otherwise, it's Switch dominance as per usual. The OLED is still selling gangbusters, with 96,889 units shifted this week, while the Standard model has sold a decent 25,683 units. People need their Splatoon 3 machines! The PS5 managed to sell more than the Switch Lite, but this week saw the console's price increase in the country following Sony's announcement in August.
- Switch OLED Model – 96,889 (2,622,850)
- Switch – 25,683 (18,692,443)
- Xbox Series S – 13,211 (178,457)
- PlayStation 5 – 8,739 (1,658,430)
- Switch Lite – 4,986 (4,891,228)
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 2,441 (267,251)
- Xbox Series X – 866 (159,791)
- New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 29 (1,188,709)
- PlayStation 4 – 12 (7,819,872)
Will Splatoon 3 and Dragon Quest X maintain their hold at the top of the charts next week? Share your thoughts in the comments!
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 35
I have an inkling this will sell a lot more yet.
I guess the low numbers of dragon quest x offline are because it's technically not the main entry. This one would probably sell more in the west...I can't believe Square enix isn't localizing this one...
Go Splatoon loving the game.
500k is a pretty impressive follow up week. No wonder Nintendo considers it a big franchise. It's already probably at 7 million or so.
My only complaint with Splatoon 3 is the disconnects. It's a great game, I just want moar!!!
Considering Splatoon 3 outsold the rest of the top 10 combined and then some I would say it dominates rather than DQX.
Which means even more digital sales as well.
The sales total for this game is going to be absolutely monstrous in Japan.
Nice to see such great sales numbers. I added 1 to the digital sales of DQX.
just wait as more(eventually all) of the game gets released bringing in how many holdouts to add their numbers.
Can't wait to play Dragon Quest Treasures soon, had been waiting long enough for a monster ally DQ game. If only Nintendo had a Fighter's Pass Season 3 for Smash Ultimate, I mean the game still sold very well, wouldn't hurt to add 6 more fighters, stages, and music for two more years until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 2 is planned for the Switch 2.
For the people who denied Splatoon being a top tier Nintendo franchise, take that!! I could definitely see Inklings taking the podium of most recognizable Nintendo characters in the near future, it's getting that big. And I love it.
@Tountoes Bigger than Mario? I dont think so
@fenlix I'm sure the majority of people who wanted to play idid so within the last decade... either way it's still beating games 3-10 on the chart by quite a wide margin!
I mean Splatoon is marketed more there, than here.
@Mythra In Japan it probably has the potential.
This is also why I don’t see them abandoning Nintendo for DQ12. Switch sold over 2x of what PS4 and PS5 versions combined did.
Oh wow, didn't know that Trinity Trigger is out in Japan already! I wonder how it turned out, it looks good.
@fenlix
Could also be that they're slow as they were with many Dragon Quest localizations. It took more than a year for Dragon Quest XI to be localized and two years for a Nintendo console localization, which I'm willing to bet Nintendo had to pay extra for.
@Arawn93
This. As long as Dragon Quest continues to sell on Nintendo hardware in Japan, there is no reason for Squeenix to leave Nintendo nor any reason for Nintendo to upgrade their hardware.
@Mythra Never said THE most. One of them for sure, though. I'm pretty confident Inklings might already be more recognizable than Samus to a lot of the youth in Japan, for instance.
I'm shock that Xbox Series S sold better than PS5 did this week.
Splatoon 3 had already sold about half as much as Smash Ultimate in 3 weeks? WOW that's very impressive.
Dragon Quest doing almost triple on Switch compared to the Playstation version
Splatoon 3 is one of the few games where I prefer digital over physical. I'll be playing it for years and I like the convenience of having the game ready to go at any time.
Great sales for DQ X on Switch. Too bad that's not getting localized, I'd definitely support this offline MMORPG.
And yeah, Splatoon 3 is a beast. That game will definitely remain in the top 10 for a while.
I love the game, but it cannot be denied there has been too many disconnects. It needs work.
Gotta love how the New 2DS Xl outsold the PS4 twice over. That's absolutely hilarious.
Congrats to Splatoon 3! I have ppl on my friends list with 175 hours already logged into the game! 175 hours …just released on Sept 9! It’s a smash hit!
Splatoon is life! Get with it or get left to die in the desert Splatlands.
Splatoon 3 is fantastic... but I hate to admit that the continuing disconnects in the lobbies are still a serious problem. If not for that, I would've made much more progress. And if it wasn't for me being a big Splatoon fan, I would not be that happy with the game right now. It's going to take more than just one update to fix it.
Really hope Nintendo gives active support to this game's online infrastructure considering how big it has become. Would be nice if they supported a healthy and competitive esports scene too. Haven't heard many major complaints so far.
@Deviant-Dork With digital Smash Ultimate is at over 6 million. It's catching up but right now it's not almost there. And this is Splatoon 3's second week.
Why Nintendo doesn’t just publish Dragon Quest X for Switch in the west is beyond me. It’s not like they haven’t taken up the mantle many times before…
Edit: forgot to mention the game
Said the latest Splatoon had the potential to be the biggest seller in the franchise, and with the busy holiday period still to come, Nintendo could have another 20 million plus seller on their hands.
Wow dragon quest x on switch sells more than the ps4 and ps5 combined, I remember the 9th game sells mostly the same on 3ds and ps4. I guess most 3rd party games sells on playstation even on japan isn't true anymore.
Already bought splatoon (for the single player), kind of disappointed on the story, I don't expect much but at least don't make it the same as the 1st and 2nd game 😕. Oh well the gameplay is still fun though.
Some interesting take aways in the last few weeks. Seems the Switch really doesn't need replacing at the moment, with such strong sale figures around the globe, I think Nintendo could easily slot in a more powerful revision at their own pace, one thing is clear though, they do probably need to stick to what the market is doing and make the Switch's successor an 'upgraded' device rather than a whole new concept as this model really is working for them and is similar to the PS5 and Series X where the older games are instantly playable on the newer machine with 'last gen versions' being available for those that have the older unit.
Moving on to the PS5 and XBSX/S, it's very interesting to see the Series S starting to make a move on the PS5 Digital console, I think if MS can continue to be competitive with deals and pricing, it stands a good chance at overtaking its rival in Japan which would be the first time they've ever done that.
I think the price of the PS5 going up isn't going to help with gaining a larger foothold in Japan, we're a couple of years in at this point and whether the shortage of components is really hampering sales, the longer we go down the road, the less people are going to shell out such a premium price for (by that point) older specs, of course, a slim PS5 is probably under a year away so I'm sure that'll be a shot in the arm, but I can't see the PS5 getting to the heights that the PS4 and PS2 did so effortlessly, not taking anything away from it, that's just my thoughts.
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