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The PS5 continues to outsell the competition by some distance in its native Japan, with hardware numbers pushing past an impressive 93,000 last week. There's been some debate over why the PS5 is doing so well despite the fact that software sales seem so dead, but that's not really a point of contention this time around, as Hogwarts Legacy topped the physical games charts on the current-gen console.
The recently released open world adventure sold a very respectable 67,000 copies, which is a solid opening in Japan these days. And, if you can believe it, Hogwarts Legacy isn't the only PlayStation game to feature in the top ten. Indeed, Gran Turismo 7 actually saw a small resurgence up the charts, clocking in with an additional 5,000 sales.
In any case, Sony is finally seeing a decent degree of success in Japan, where, as we all know, the Nintendo Switch has reigned supreme for so long. It'll be interesting to see whether the PS5 maintains its momentum in the coming weeks and months, especially with important games like Final Fantasy XVI on the horizon.
Software Charts: Week Ending 12th February, 2023
- [PS5] Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros. Games), 02/10/23) – 67,196 (New)
- [NSW] Pokemon Scarlet / Pokemon Violet (The Pokemon Company, 11/18/22) – 29,019 (4,836,510)
- [NSW] Splatoon 3 (Nintendo, 09/09/22) – 13,343 (3,876,184)
- [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 11,807 (5,153,979)
- [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 7,566 (3,040,308)
- [NSW] Fire Emblem Engage (Nintendo, 01/20/23) – 7,267 (193,187)
- [NSW] Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo, 04/29/22) – 7,127 (1,001,330)
- [NSW] Mario Party Superstars (Nintendo, 10/29/21) – 5,155 (1,175,091)
- [PS5] Gran Turismo 7 (SIE, 03/04/22) – 5,065 (280,995)
- [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo, 12/07/18) – 5,025 (5,121,897)
Hardware Charts: Week Ending 12th February, 2023
- PlayStation 5 – 81,798 (2,424,815)
- Switch OLED Model – 32,464 (3,881,605)
- Switch – 12,513 (19,175,551)
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 11,776 (373,503)
- Switch Lite – 10,048 (5,205,755)
- Xbox Series S – 3,429 (247,584)
- PlayStation 4 – 1,115 (7,852,944)
- Xbox Series X – 506 (174,391)
- New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 91 (1,190,541)
[source famitsu.com, via gematsu.com]
Comments 45
I think the ps5 will be more dominate than the ps4.
hogwarts and probably VR showing the reasons for increased sales.... rather than lots to China
@stvevan Tomorrow's news. "Japan's games being exported to China!"
Now THIS week sales seem a lot more like you'd expect in terms of software:hardware for Japan.
@Ralizah At least this time the sales were legit! Probably does roll into some of the previous sales as well, though certainly not a lot of them.
What's interesting about Hogwarts is the last gen versions aren't out yet meaning the huge sales have come from just current gen and PC, it shows the shift to current gen has really started to get going this past year.
So much for Xbox beating Playstation in Japan. Those articles from last year aged like milk.
@NEStalgia Well, I mean, all new sales are legit. It's just a matter of whether Japanese hardware sales correlate with Japanese buy-in on the platform. And I don't see any reason to think that's necessarily changed, given recent trends.
The interesting thing is that it looks like Sony is cracking the Chinese market, which could be huge for hardware sales this gen.
Good to see an actual Playstation game in the charts, though, I agree.
Must be all those Chinese scalpers buying up those copies, huh?
@TheTony316 BUT MY PROJETIONS SAID THAT ... LOL lots of
social media "experts"not so good at their job i guess
@Zombie9ers way easier to buy a digital copy with the help of a VPN for your grey market console than paying a lot for a physical copy so no probably not.
Those hashtags on Twitter didn't work at all lol.
@Splat Social media boycotts of popular products never work. Or, if they do work, it only affects the opposite of the intended effect. After all, controversy sells.
I guess all the vitriol and controvesy surrounding this game has really affected sales then. Mission complete 👍
@Ralizah same thing happened to Chick FIL a, they tried boycotting it and it ended up having the biggest day ever in sales.
Gran Turismo 7, great game let down by some annoying business decisions.
@Ralizah it depends. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. There have been too many cases to count of boycotts that have worked and too many that haven't, but people like to cherry pick all the time, because of their strong confirmation bias.
One example that comes to mind is Victoria Secret's CEO making remarks that some perceived as anti-trans and the brand suffered massively. I suppose it depends heavily on the audience.
3 weeks on the top of the charts and two games in the top 10 is domination now?
Ok. I know this is a fansite but this seems a bit ridicule.
@Friendly even one week can be enough to be considered as dominating, if the difference is significant. It depends on how it's being phrased.
@Friendly you can dominate 1week/game/match. outselling the evergreen switch 2:1 is dominating. or xbox 20:1.
just as the switch dominates when it does it. Just as Xbox dominates where it pulls those figures.
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(Insert Voldemort laugh here)
@nessisonett
Buying the game isn't "directly funding a hate campaign." It's funding a company that is publishing a game that is based on an IP created by someone with questionable views about transpeople. As a gamer, you're far more directly funding sweatshops and the oppression of ethnic minorities in China than you are transphobia.
This game was always going to be successful, so trying to hitch public support of trans rights to the success or failure of an ambitious AAA game based on one of the biggest pop culture franchises of all time was just handing a cultural victory to the right. If the game's success is to be perceived as a victory for transphobia, it's only because social activists have explicitly made that connection. Literally just ignoring the game would have done far less harm to the cause of trans acceptance.
Anyway, if you're going to make buying a video game the litmus test for whether someone is an "ally" or not, then you're just going to lose "allies". A lot of them. And it will be at least partially deserved, because it was never a reasonable standard to have in place to begin with.
To be clear: the more silly and unpopular cultural crusades like this trans-activists tether themselves to, the more damage they ultimately end up doing to the average transperson who, in your words, wants to be theirself.
This is not the way to win hearts and minds.
@TheTony316 Xbox was never going to beat playstation in Japan and never will. Last year they sold more consoles than playstation in a week on two occasions and that was celebrated like a victory, even though stock shortages were still a problem.
Not surprising as I'm pretty sure the HP films are some of the biggest of all time in Japan.
The deep irony of an alleged boycott is that Hogwarts Legacy has the most diverse and inclusive cast of characters (including yourself if you want) that I have ever seen in a video game.
@UltimateOtaku91 The same thing happened in 2009 just before the PS3 Slim launched in Japan. Certain people were suggesting the PS3 was dead and Xbox had finally conquered Japan.
Their proclamations ended very qucikly.
@Ralizah
Only started following the game from all the free publicity it was getting online. Game is a blast
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@YourNameHere Exactly.
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I keep hearing talk about the boycott not working but...I don't think there was even that big a movement for it in Japan. I follow quite a lot of Japanese streamers and they seemed to believe that anyone trying to warn them against playing it were trolls and just blocked them on Twitter. Again we see how different cultures have different values, as much as you might personally hate that.
@Ralizah You said everything I've been thinking and more. All they had to do was not buy the game and just pretend it didn't exist, let people play whatever they want and not make it a litmus test.
I consider myself a trans ally and I happily bought the game day one, like you said if people only want to consume and use ethical products then they will end up living like an Amish.
@Ralizah You said it very well! It was a pleasure to read!
However, I think that any form of activism is harmful nowadays. I also found that those activists do not want to be accepted, and I found out that the people who are killed and threatened are actually the average joes of their respective mini societies.
People should try to follow the established rules made by the vast majority (for perhaps a better life) instead of trying to create their own and make everyone else follow them blindly.
@Ralizah I don't think many trans activists are on a crusade. Some are. But the most vocal voices are from, how to put it politely, different kind of people.
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I feel if you're going to truly boycott something, it should be Nintendo. The Saudi Arabian government now owns 7.08% of the company.
Put aside their atrocious record on human rights such as how they treat women (or journalists) this is a place that just being a member of the LGBT community is illegal and the punishment ranges from lashings up to execution. This is state sponsored terrorism on innocent people for literally just existing.
Of course you don't hear much about this because boycotting Nintendo would be a very unpopular position for gamers as well as the websites that cater to them.
If only the people who whined about Chris Pratt being the voice of Mario because they think his church may have said they are against gay marriage or something knew that if Martinet was the voice they would happily buy a ticket and directly fill the coffers of a government who executes LGBT people.
Gonna boycott every game now, from Call of Duty to Mario to God of war …….. as it offends many people, minorities and beliefs, if you want to find a problem you will find it.
What is the world coming to!!!
@GreatAuk we are all hypocritical.
boycott Nintendo because saudi... but happily use their oil.
boycott China because of treatment to Uighurs (apologies spelling)... but happy to use their rare minerals/cheap labour.
boycott Hogwarts for trans rights.... but keep playing ABK (whoever) regardless of sexual harrasment etc.
where do we draw the line? thats without mentioning climate, BLM, MeToo and so on.
everyone has the right to boycott whatever they wish, can do so by saying that. Just as anyone else has the right to use/buy whatever.
@stvevan My position is that I agree with you. I just find it amusing that the people trying to boycott Hogwarts Legacy probably don't hold such intense feelings regarding Nintendo despite being partly owned by a government that literally kills LGBT people. Actually kills them. People love to employ intense levels of hyperbole, but what Saudi Arabia does is no exaggeration. And yet crickets regarding boycotting Nintendo products, boycotting the upcoming movie, etc.
I think if people did care we would have heard all about it online like we did their feelings regarding this game.
Imagine the digital sales of HL, must be in the hundred of thousands if you take into consideration that PlayStation sales are mostly digital
@Jdduhd Wait until it's out for the PS4 and Xbox (and even Switch.) There's a massive install base that can't even purchase the game yet.
Wow... Hogwarts really does have some reach. That is a great performance for the japanese market.
@Ralizah i think what you said is spot on. Well chosen words and its what the majority of us think and want to say but struggle with the urge to be sarcastic and give the impression we are anti trans when we are not at all. Hogwarts is a fantastic game and everybody should be able to say how much they like it without fear of reprisal from those who are unhappy with everything in the world that dosnt pander to their rhetoric..i hope this post was more appropriate 👍
@Ralizah very well said indeed, encapsulated some of my thinking. As a member of the LGBTQ community myself, it’s been incredibly disheartening to see the hatred and online bullying used by all different types of people to sway someone to either back the game or not play it. That’s not how we get engagement and support for a very topical and needed cause around human rights when we are being attacked by right wing media and religious groups already on a daily basis
@UltimateOtaku91
I know. It's just funny looking back at it after all the "Sony has abandoned Japan" articles.
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