While the PS5 has attracted a somewhat sizeable install base in Japan, there has been concern about its software sales. We know the industry at large is gradually shifting towards digital, but Famitsu’s charts have painted a particularly bleak picture for PlayStation software of late, with the Nintendo Switch effectively steamrolling Sony’s system week after week. This has led some observers to question whether the new-gen system is even staying in the country, or is simply being exported around Asia.
But this week is a bit better for both PS5 and PS4’s physical software sales. God of War Ragnarok, for example, entered the charts in third – and sold best on PS5, despite the new-gen system’s smaller install base compared to the PS4. It only moved 29,377 units and 11,260 units respectively, but that’s not a bad return under the circumstances. Sonic Frontiers also sold better on PS5 than PS4, although it of course performed best on Nintendo Switch.
Elsewhere, both the PS5 and PS4 version of Tactics Ogre Reborn charted – again, they were outperformed by the Nintendo Switch version, but managed to make the top ten. That means more than half of this week’s physical Famitsu sales chart is made up of PlayStation games – a rare occurrence of late, it has to be said. As for hardware, the PS5 did totally fine, moving close to another 30k units. Everything will be swept away by Pokémon in next week’s report, but it’s nice to see PlayStation a little steadier in its domestic nation for once.
Japan Software Sales (7th November to 13th November, 2022)
- [NSW] Splatoon 3 (Nintendo, 09/09/22) – 43,781 (3,331,197)
- [NSW] Tactics Ogre: Reborn (Square Enix, 11/11/22) – 36,783 (New)
- [PS5] God of War Ragnarok (SIE, 11/09/22) – 29,377 (New)
- [NSW] Sonic Frontiers (SEGA, 11/08/22) – 26,067 (New)
- [PS4] Tactics Ogre: Reborn (Square Enix, 11/11/22) – 12,668 (New)
- [PS4] God of War Ragnarok (SIE, 11/09/22) – 11,260 (New)
- [PS5] Sonic Frontiers (SEGA, 11/08/22) – 11,111 (New)
- [PS4] Sonic Frontiers (SEGA, 11/08/22) – 9,098 (New)
- [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 8,025 (4,899,259)
- [PS5] Tactics Ogre: Reborn (Square Enix, 11/11/22) – 7,805 (New)
Japan Hardware Sales (7th November to 13th November, 2022)
- Switch OLED Model – 58,171 (2,981,234)
- PlayStation 5 – 25,665 (1,821,703)
- Switch Lite – 25,050 (4,930,097)
- Switch – 14,321 (18,838,867)
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 3,051 (286,936)
- Xbox Series S – 487 (212,265)
- Xbox Series X – 261 (167,267)
- PlayStation 4 – 138 (7,820,338)
- New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 32 (1,189,151)
[source famitsu.com, via gematsu.com]
Comments 11
Those PS5 hardware numbers aren't that bad considering it's Japan, and taking all of the stock shortages into account.
@ShogunRok Have seen many japanese people wondering on Twitter if the ps5 is even real. People want to buy the console but there aren't enough of them.
Series X and S are certainly selling like hot cakes!! 😅
@ShogunRok Probably would've been higher if it hadn't have been for the frankly outrageous price hike in Japan. I mean, £30 in the UK is taking the pee but that's nothing to what they did to their alleged home country.
Hoping for a price drop with the remodelled version next year but I'm concerned Sony will keep trying to screw over their customers even after the semi-conductor shortage has abated.
I'm more shocked how poor those sales are for Sonic, yikes.
@Rob3008 Sonic isn’t that huge in Japan. This outsold the classic games and Generations there.
Does the Switch break down easily or something? The demand is relentless....
@sanderson72 man, I wish I could've bought the PS5 at the Japanese price. Even after the price hike, it's over $100 less than in the US (and like 150 GBP cheaper than the UK price).
Considering PS5 is at over 2 mil sold, which isn't horrible when you take into account everything that happened before it launched, I'd have thought software sales would be better. Nice to see God of War move a decent amount units.
@IndoorEnthusiast physical sales are easily trackable, it's the closest they can get to measuring popularity.
Are these physical sales only or are digital also included? The article mentions that the market is shifting towards digital so I'm guessing it's physical only.
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