Japan: Famitsu sales for January 2022 (Software, Hardware, Publishers)

Famitsu have shared their latest monthly report on video game sales in Japan, this time covering January 2022 (to be more precise, the period going from December 27th 2021 to January 30th 2022, so 5 weeks in total).

The only entry in the Top 5 Software is Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which is off to a great start with over 1.4 million units sold at retail alone (even better than Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl!). There’s little doubt it will also be among the best-selling games in February (especially as it did come out at the very end of January).

Quite interestingly, Famitsu point out that it’s the 3rd month in a row that a Pokémon game was #1 of sales in Japan.

The rest of the Top 5 Software is made of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and the usual evergreen titles on Nintendo Switch. They did fairly well, though did not come anywhere near the almighty Pokémon Legends: Arceus. This is hardly a surprise as January isn’t the best of months for sales (usually, only Week 1, with New Year, sees strong sales).

Here’s the Top 5 Software for January 2022:

01./00. [NSW] Pokemon Legends: Arceus <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2022.01.28} (¥5.980) – 1.424.657 / NEW
02./02. [NSW] Mario Party Superstars <ETC> (Nintendo) {2021.10.29} (¥5.980) – 204.654 / 833.192 (-22%)
03./01. [NSW] Pokemon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl # <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2021.11.19} (¥5.980) – 169.987 / 2.483.102 (-70%)
04./05. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe <RCE> (Nintendo) {2017.04.28} (¥5.980) – 127.846 / 4.400.203 (+7%)
05./00. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate # <FTG> (Nintendo) {2018.12.07} (¥7.200) – 115.659 / 4.739.797

And once again, the Nintendo Switch grabbed all 5 spots in the Top 5 Software:

NSW – 5

The Pokémon Company was the most successful publisher with over 1.6 millions units. Those come mostly from Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. And this month again, Nintendo managed to sell over 1 million games thanks to their unstoppable evergreen titles.

Finally, Konami was #3 with 137 000 units sold. Those sales mostly come from PawaPro Pocket-Kun R and Momotarou Dentetsu: Shouwa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban!.

Pokemon Co. – 1.652.000
Nintendo – 1.077.000
Konami – 137.000

Hardware-wise, January was another good month for the Nintendo Switch, though sales are inevitably down compared to December. The console ended up selling over 600 000 units (615 437 units to be precise), thanks in part to a strong New Year week. Unfortunately, sales are down Year on Year (875 389 units were sold in January 2021), and lack of stock for the OLED model is (unfortunately) hampering sales.

Indeed, it’s the OLED model that’s driving sales with 305 160 units sold in January (that’s about 50% of total Hardware sales for the Nintendo Switch). The OG and Lite models fared well, but the former saw a massive drop Year on Year with “only” 190 707 units sold (as opposed to nearly 700 000 units in January 2021).

So far, the gap between 2022 and 2021 sales is about 270 000 units. Unfortunately, that gap is expected to widen in the next few weeks and months, though it’s not like sales are going to fall off a cliff or anything. Quite the opposite: 2022 looks poised to be another strong year for the Nintendo Switch, which is about to enter its 6th year on the market!

LTD sales now stand at 23 534 938 units, which means the next milestone (24 million units) should be reached in late February at the very earliest (March is much more likely).

Finally, the Nintendo 3DS saw its sales increase in January with 2 010 units sold (vs. 1 466 units in December 2021, and 2 838 units in January 2021). The handheld is since long past its prime, but it’s not quite done selling just yet!

+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|System | This Month | Last Month |  Last Year |     YTD    |  Last YTD  |     LTD     |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| NSW # |    615.437 |    770.158 |    875.389 |    615.437 |    875.389 |  23.534.938 |
| PS5 # |    114.003 |     37.103 |     72.420 |    114.003 |     72.420 |   1.337.338 |
| XBS # |      7.376 |      5.888 |      1.926 |      7.376 |      1.926 |     136.034 |
| 3DS # |      2.010 |      1.466 |      2.838 |      2.010 |      2.838 |  24.589.458 |
| PS4 # |         81 |        324 |     35.254 |         81 |     35.254 |   9.395.025 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|  ALL  |    738.907 |    814.939 |    987.827 |    738.907 |    987.827 |  60.174.099 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|  PS5  |     99.464 |     33.335 |     62.954 |     99.464 |     62.954 |   1.128.590 |
| PS5DE |     14.539 |      3.768 |      9.466 |     14.539 |      9.466 |     208.748 |
| XBS X |      3.692 |      2.937 |      1.252 |      3.692 |      1.252 |      76.983 |
| XBS S |      3.684 |      2.951 |        674 |      3.684 |        674 |      59.051 |
|NSWOLED|    305.160 |    379.151 |            |    305.160 |            |   1.077.288 |
| NSW L |    119.570 |    175.889 |    179.006 |    119.570 |    179.006 |   4.530.354 |
|  NSW  |    190.707 |    215.118 |    696.383 |    190.707 |    696.383 |  17.927.296 |
|  PS4  |         81 |        324 |     35.153 |         81 |     35.153 |   7.819.302 |
|n-2DSLL|      2.010 |      1.466 |      2.838 |      2.010 |      2.838 |   1.194.513 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+

Source: Famitsu
Data compiled by: Chris1964 (Install Base)

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