Nintendo Switch sells 17 million units in Japan

Nintendo Switch has already sold 17 million consoles in Japan, almost twice as many as PS4 and monopolizes the list of best-selling games week after week.

Nintendo Switch has had a spectacular year in terms of sales surpassing the 23 million consoles sold worldwide during 2020 (a figure much higher than in its previous years). Although it works all over the world (even in China!), Japan is its best market where it practically monopolizes hardware and software sales week after week.

Between December 14 and 20, 263,304 consoles were sold (counting Switch and Switch Lite). In comparison, PS5 sold 17,578 units, and PS4 10,343. Xbox Series X / S barely sold 375 units. As always, this data is provided by Famitsu.

In Japan, as in the whole world, the stock of new-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft is very limited, and it is still practically impossible to find a new one. According to data from VGChartz, since its launch in mid-November, PS5 has sold 3.3 million and Xbox Series 1.8 million units worldwide.

Switch exceeds 17 million units sold in Japan since its launch in 2017 (out of a total of 73.7 million worldwide to date). In Japan, PS4 has sold approximately 9.2 million consoles since its launch in 2013. And Switch sales are only growing, thanks to the popularity of games such as Animal Crossing New Horizons, Ring Fit Adventure and the success of the season, Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, REIWA mo Teiban! This pace does not look like slowing down in 2021, which will see the exclusive release of Monster Hunter Rise, an incredibly popular franchise in Japan.

If you want to compare, these are the sales data in Japan over the past week (7-13 December). As you can see, Cyberpunk 2077 has been diluted in Japan…

Best selling games in Japan (14-20 December)

1. (NSW) Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! – 209,123 (964,207)
2. (NSW) Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 95,097 (6,270,353)
3. (NSW) Ring Fit Adventure – 58,654 (2,028,444)
4. (NSW) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 44,450 (3,388,984)
5. (NSW) Pikmin 3 Deluxe – 40,359 (407,820)
6. (NSW) Minecraft – 35,165 (1,654,462)
7. (NSW) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 33,475 (3,959,987)
8. (NSW) Super Mario Party – 30,046 (1,687,940)
9. (NSW) Super Mario 3D All-Stars – 28,102 (455,469)
10. (NSW) Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics – 24,502 (479,976)

Best selling consoles in Japan (14-20 December)

1. Switch – 211,725 (14,045,916)
2. Switch Lite – 51,579 (3,016,285)
3. PlayStation 5 – 15,122 (196,099)
4. PlayStation 4 – 10,291 (7,702,754)
5. PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 2,456 (45,863)
6. New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 556 (1,749,048)
7. Xbox Series X – 268 (24,699)
8. Xbox Series S – 107 (6,520)
9. PlayStation 4 Pro – 52 (1,575,418)
10. New 3DS LL – 27 (5,888,925)
11. Xbox One X – 17 (21,069)
12. Xbox One S – 16 (93,733)