Japan: Famitsu sales for November 2019 (Software, Hardware, Publishers)
Famitsu have shared their monthly report on video game sales in Japan, this time covering November 2019 (to be more precise, the period going from October 28th and November 24th, so 4 weeks in total).
This month again, the majority of games in the Top 5 Software are new releases. But this time around, the best-selling game is hardly a surprise: it’s Pokémon Sword and Shield, with 1 747 084 units at retail alone. It sold several times more than all the other games in the Top 5 Software combined, including the various new releases that didn’t come anywhere near the sales of the latest mainline Pokémon entry.
Pokémon Sword and Shield had the best debut for any Nintendo Switch game since launch, and is also the very first game this year to sell 1 million units.
At #2, we have Luigi’s Mansion 3 with 258 919 units. That seems like a somewhat disappointing performance, after the great sales of Luigi’s Mansion 2 (well over 1 million units in Japan alone). Of course, Famitsu’s number does not include digital sales, and the holiday season is just around the corner.
Finally, Ring Fit Adventure actually sold more in November than in October (157 539 units, +19%), despite the shortages. It’s definitely a shame that Nintendo will most likely not be able to ship enough copies for the holiday season, as sales would most likely have been a sight to behold. Still, the company is preparing to increase the number of weekly shipments towards the end of the month, so we can expect big sales in December.
Here’s the Top 5 Software for November 2019 from Famitsu:
01./00. [NSW] Pokemon Sword / Shield # <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15} (¥5.980) – 1.747.084 / NEW
02./00. [NSW] Luigi’s Mansion 3 <ACT> (Nintendo) {2019.10.31} (¥5.980) – 258.919 / NEW
03./00. [PS4] Death Stranding # <ADV> (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2019.11.08} (¥6.900) – 235.811 / NEW
04./00. [PS4] Persona 5 Royal # <RPG> (Atlus) {2019.10.31} (¥8.800) – 232.217 / NEW
05./01. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure <HOB> (Nintendo) {2019.10.18} (¥7.980) – 157.539 / 290.081 (+19%)
Just like the past couple of months, the Nintendo Switch didn’t manage to grab all 5 spots of the Top 5, “only” 3 of them:
NSW – 3
PS4 – 2
And this time around, Nintendo was not the most successful publisher in Japan, despite its games selling over 600 000 units. The reason? Pokémon games are published by The Pokémon Company in Japan, and Pokémon Sword and Shield alone sold 1 747 084 units. In total, games published The Pokémon Company sold 1 764 000 units in November, which means remaining games sold about 17 000 units (with Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Let’s Go, Eevee! account for most of those sales).
Ring Fit Adventure and Luigi’s Mansion 3 combined account for 2/3 of total Software sales for Nintendo, once again highlighting the strength of evergreen titles (about 200 000 units sold).
Here’s the 3 most successful publishers in Japan in November:
- Pokemon Co. – 1.764.000
- Nintendo – 604.000
- Sony Interactive Entertainment – 324.000
November was a really good month for the Nintendo Switch, which sold 568 000 units (OG + Lite models combined), bringing total sales since launch to over 10 million units (10 245 807 units to be precise). Sales more than doubled compared to October, due to that month not being the best of months for sales in general, and of course the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield in November (not to mention the positive impact of Ring Fit Adventure, bringing brand new users to the platform).
Last year, the Nintendo Switch sold 387 655 units during the same month: the increase Year on Year is quite noticeable! That increase is also quite striking when looking at YTD sales: 3 356 261 units as of November 24th 2018, as opposed to 2 323 645 units last year after the same amount of weeks.
Despite the launch of Pokémon Sword and Shield and the special model, the Nintendo Switch Lite still sold less than the OG model: 276 058 units vs 292 239 units.
While it’s going to be hard for the Nintendo Switch to sell as much as it did last year in December (due to the lack of major title like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), the console will still be able to hold its own, and will end the year with a sizeable increase Year on Year.
As for the Nintendo 3DS, its sales are more or less flat with 5 179 units sold (vs. 4 695 units in October, and 26 098 in November 2018). YTD sales now stand at 175 464 units (as opposed to 490 261 units last year), which means the handheld may not even sell 200 000 units this year. 2020 is pretty much guaranteed to be its last year on the market.
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|System | This Month | Last Month | Last Year | YTD | Last YTD | LTD |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| NSW # | 568.297 | 269.322 | 387.655 | 3.356.261 | 2.323.645 | 10.245.807 |
| PS4 # | 39.315 | 35.021 | 79.172 | 946.248 | 1.375.108 | 8.498.338 |
| 3DS # | 5.179 | 4.695 | 26.098 | 175.464 | 490.261 | 24.480.428 |
| XB1 # | 329 | 427 | 1.582 | 5.979 | 13.631 | 108.910 |
| PSV # | 106 | 108 | 7.143 | 37.455 | 169.032 | 5.862.809 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| ALL | 613.226 | 309.573 | 501.650 | 4.521.407 | 4.373.681 | 49.196.292 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| NSW L | 276.058 | 93.478 | | 628.229 | | 628.229 |
| NSW | 292.239 | 175.844 | 387.655 | 2.728.032 | 2.323.645 | 9.617.578 |
| XB1 X | 161 | 236 | 1.417 | 3.931 | 9.832 | 17.387 |
| XB1 S | 168 | 191 | 165 | 2.048 | 3.799 | 19.521 |
|PS4 Pro| 18.453 | 14.640 | 36.698 | 350.195 | 377.002 | 1.322.785 |
| PS4 | 20.862 | 20.381 | 42.474 | 596.053 | 998.106 | 7.175.553 |
| PSV | 106 | 108 | 7.143 | 37.455 | 169.032 | 5.862.809 |
|n-2DSLL| 4.889 | 4.244 | 16.464 | 145.051 | 305.774 | 1.089.295 |
| n-3DS | 290 | 451 | 8.617 | 29.322 | 164.441 | 5.885.147 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+Click here for more Japanese sales data!
