The Worst Japanese Sales Week For Games In A Long Time

The Worst Japanese Sales Week For Games In A Long Time

Oh boy. The most recent video game sales numbers in Japan are not good. In fact, they’re bad. Very bad. As blog Hokanko points out, the most recent Media Create sales figures — which date from 11 to 17 May — are the worst since 2001. This period was the week that followed Golden Week, a string of national holidays that sees people travelling, shopping and spending money.

During the week, a total of 235,000 video games were sold in Japan at retail. That’s a 60 per cent drop in retail game sales from the previous week. Worse yet, it’s a 61.93 per cent drop for the week when compared to the same time last year.

As Media Create explains, it’s typical for sales to be sluggish in the week that follows Golden Week. But these numbers are brutal. They’re so bad that Media Create says this is the most awful week of sales since 2001. (Note that Media Create, which has been around since 1994, said the 11-17 May week was the worst for the time period between 2001 and 2015).

Media Create explains that the reason for this huge sales stumble was a dearth of completely new games. Instead, there were loads of remastered and reworked titles. (Also, I think that the popularity of smartphone games and apps isn’t exactly helping traditional video game sales!)

Here’s a look at the top ten (the software figures for both Xenoblade Chronicles X and Mario Kart 8 include hardware bundles):

10. Dying Light (PS4) — 3252 units

9. Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (3DS) — 3648 units

8. Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U) — 4236 units

7. Bravely Second: End Layer (3DS) — 5260 units

6. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) — 5405 units

5. Borderlands Double Deluxe Collection (PS4) — 6922 units

4. Girls Mode 3 (3DS) — 7422 units

3. Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition (PS Vita) — 11,303 units

2. Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Edition (3DS) — 13,844 units

1. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (PS4) — 15,913 units


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