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Nintendo Switch accounted for 26 of the top 30 best-selling games in Japan

Pokemon Sword and Shield continues to capture audiences

Nintendo Switch accounted for 26 of the top 30 best-selling games in Japan

Nintendo Switch games accounted for 26 of the top 30 best-selling titles in Japan for the week commencing 30th December 2019.

This was confirmed via the latest Famitsu charts, showing that Pokemon Sword and Shield topped the list for the best-selling game of the week (196,265 copies), while also surpassing the three million sale mark in the country. For context: the latest Pokemon titles sold six million in their first week, making them the fastest-selling games on Switch to date.

Luigi's Mansion 3 placed second at 52,434 units sold before Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continued to shift copes with another 52,195 sales in the first week of the year.

Top 21 titles

Nintendo Switch games made up the top 21 titles of the Japanese sales chart, proving its popularity and dominance over competitors.

Only four games made the chart which are not available on Switch: Detroit: Become Human, eFootball PES 2020, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Sakura Wars, which are all on the PlayStation 4.

The top 30 best-selling games in Japan from December 30th, 2019 to January 5th, 2020 (including sales numbers) were:

  1. Pokemon Sword and Shield (Switch) - 196,265
  2. Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) - 52,434
  3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) - 52,195
  4. Minecraft (Switch) - 46,963
  5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Switch) - 44,605
  6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) - 43,274
  7. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Switch) - 41,455
  8. Super Mario Party (Switch) - 37,903
  9. Tsuri Spirits (Switch) - 30,705
  10. Ring Fit Adventure (Switch) - 30,705
  11. Splatoon 2 (Switch) - 27,455
  12. Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) - 27,378
  13. Disney Tsum Tsum Festival (Switch) - 16,984
  14. Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Switch) - 14,441
  15. Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) - 11,586
  16. Taiko no Tatsujin Drum 'n' Fun (Switch) - 11,208
  17. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch) - 10,045
  18. Yo-Kai Watch 4++ (Switch) - 9,486
  19. Dragon Quest XI S (Switch) - 7,973
  20. Kirby Star Allies (Switch) - 7,696
  21. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball (Switch) - 7,444
  22. eFootball PES 2020 (PS4) - 6,394
  23. FIFA 20 Legacy Edition (Switch) - 6,186
  24. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (PS4) - 6,046
  25. Story of Seasons (Switch) - 5,950
  26. Detroit: Become Human (PS4) - 5,948
  27. Olympics Games Tokyo 2020 (Switch) - 5,789
  28. Sakura Wars (PS4) - 5,483
  29. Pokemon Let's Go! Pikachu/Eevee (Switch) - 5,425
  30. Super Bomberman R (Switch) - 5,423

Details were recently revealed surrounding Universal Studios upcoming Super Nintendo World theme park, which will let visitors become Mario via wristbands and smartphone app.


Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.