News

Japanese Console Game Market Rose for 1st Time in 11 Years

Kadokawa's Famitsu.com website reported on the Japanese game console and video game sales in Japan from December 26, 2016 to December 31, 2017. The numbers include both home consoles and portable systems (such as the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita).

The game console sales for 2017 amount to 202.37 billion yen (about US$1.80 billion), an increase of 72.9% from 2016's 117.05 billion yen (about US$1.04 billion). Console games sold 189.30 billion yen (about US$1.68 billion) in 2017, a 3.8% increase from 2016's 182.43 billion yen (about US$1.62 billion). Combined game console and video game sales amounted to 391.75 billion yen (about US$3.49 billion) in 2017, a 30.8% increase from 2016's 299.48 billion yen (about US$2.66 billion).

The last time the combined game console and video game sales improved over the previous year's total was 2006, 11 years ago. (The PlayStation 3 and Wii launched in Japan that year.)

The year's highest-selling games include:

1. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 2,003,607
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 2,003,607
   

2. Splatoon 2
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 1,752,096
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 1,752,096
   

3. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (3DS)
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 1,744,603
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 1,744,603
   

4. Monster Hunter Generations
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 1,684,991
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 1,684,991
   

5. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4)
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 1,336,180
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 1,336,180
   

6. Super Mario Odyssey
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 1,324,280
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 1,324,280
   

7. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 1,103,744
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 1,103,744
   

8. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 688,044
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 688,044
   

9. Pokémon Sun and Moon
   Estimated 2017 copies sold: 576,506
   Estimated cumulative copies sold: 3,822,728
   

10. Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
    Estimated 2017 copies sold: 423,073
    Estimated cumulative copies sold: 1,166,461
    

The year's game console sales by platform were:

• Nintendo 3DS (all model variants included)
  Estimated 2017 units sold: 1,827,131
  Estimated cumulative units sold: 23,738,544
  

• PlayStation Vita
  Estimated 2017 units sold: 396,207
  Estimated cumulative units sold: 5,643,626
  

• Nintendo Switch
  Estimated 2017 units sold: 3,407,158
  Estimated cumulative units sold: 3,407,158
  

• PlayStation 4 (all model variants included)
  Estimated 2017 units sold: 1,935,247
  Estimated cumulative units sold: 5,856,863
  

• Xbox One (all model variants included)
  Estimated 2017 units sold: 14,644
  Estimated cumulative units sold: 87,592
  

Source: Famitsu.com via Otakomu