Japan: Famitsu sales for April 2019 (Software, Hardware, Publishers)
Famitsu have shared their monthly report on video game sales in Japan, this time covering April 2019 (to be more precise, the period going from April 1st to April 28th, so 4 weeks in total).
Let’s start with Software. There’s one entry on Nintendo Switch in the Top 5, Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission. It had a fairly decent first month, with 100 000 units sold (99 552 units to be precise).
Yoshi’s Crafted World actually saw its sales increase in April with 59 864 units sold (+20%), primarily due to the fact that it launched at the end of March (only 2 days tracked in the March report), and the first days of the Golden Week in April. It’s now sold over 100 000 units in Japan.
Meanwhile, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate saw its sales drop by 53% (50 774 units sold), due to April being a rather slow period for video games sales. It still sold enough to show up in the Top 5! Also, Famitsu points out that it has now sold over 3 million units at retail alone, roughly 5 months after its release. It’s the second Nintendo Switch game after Splatoon 2 to reach that milestone.
Here’s the Top 5 Software for April 2019, courtesy of Famitsu:
01./00. [PS4] Days Gone <ACT> (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2019.04.26} (¥6.900) – 114.319 / NEW
02./00. [NSW] Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission <TBL> (Bandai Namco Games) {2019.04.04} (¥6.800) – 99.552 / NEW
03./00. [PS4] Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain <ACT> (D3Publisher) {2019.04.11} (¥7.800) – 74.312 / NEW
04./11. [NSW] Yoshi’s Crafted World <ACT> (Nintendo) {2019.03.29} (¥5.980) – 59.864 / 109.871 (+20%)
05./03. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate # <FTG> (Nintendo) {2018.12.07} (¥7.200) – 50.774 / 3.043.150 (-53%)
As you can see, the Nintendo Switch has the most games in the Top 5 Software, despite getting only one entry in it.
NSW – 3
PS4 – 2
Nintendo was once again the most successful publisher with 362 000 units sold. This month again, you can see the strength and importance of the evergreen titles on Nintendo Switch, because the two games in the Top 5 only account for 1/3 of total Software sales for Nintendo in April 2019. In comparison, Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission accounts for nearly 50% of total Software sales for Bandai-Namco, the second-most successful publisher in April 2019.
Here’s the Top 3 Publishers for April 2019, courtesy of Famitsu:
Nintendo – 362.000
Bandai Namco Games – 190.000
Sony Interactive Entertainment – 141.000
Hardware-wise, the Nintendo Switch saw its sales drop by over 100 000 units, from 296 219 units in March to 183 397 units in April. As mentioned several times before, April is a pretty slow period for the video games market in Japan, and those Hardware sales certainly show. May is also a rather slow month (possibly even worse than April), but at the very least it will have most of the Golden Week.
In April 2019, the Nintendo Switch sold nearly as much as last year during the same month (only 5 000 units more). And yearly sales topped 1 million units this month, which is much earlier than last year. The second million should come way before the start of the holiday season. So far, the gap between 2018 and 2019 sales is roughly 300 000 units, and it’s unlikely things are going to change from now on.
Finally, April 2019 is also when the Nintendo Switch sales topped 8 million units, about 2 years and two months after launch. It’s pretty much guaranteed the console will reach 10 million units by the end of the year, with the 9 million units milestone sometime this Summer.
The Nintendo Switch has been the best-selling console in Japan 14 months in row.
The Nintendo 3DS had a pretty quiet month in April, with 15 540 units sold: that’s about 11 000 units less than last week, and over 3 times less than last year during the same period. YTD sales are down by over 150 000 units to 102 040 units. It’s quite telling that it took 4 full months for the handheld to sell 100 000 units this year… Total sales have now reached 24.4 million units.
Finally, total Hardware sales dropped by 221 000 units in April compared to March, with 252 675 units sold. Sales are also down Year on Year, with 329 107 units sold in April 2018. So far, YTD sales are down by nearly 150 000 units, because of all the consoles not called “Nintendo Switch”.
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|System | This Month | Last Month | Last Year | YTD | Last YTD | LTD |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| NSW | 183.397 | 296.219 | 178.144 | 1.152.620 | 808.130 | 8.042.166 |
| PS4 # | 51.177 | 135.908 | 82.561 | 495.664 | 769.926 | 8.047.754 |
| 3DS # | 15.540 | 26.894 | 47.818 | 102.040 | 261.202 | 24.407.004 |
| PSV # | 2.164 | 14.380 | 19.405 | 33.226 | 84.972 | 5.858.580 |
| XB1 # | 397 | 547 | 929 | 2.166 | 6.198 | 105.097 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| ALL | 252.675 | 473.948 | 329.107 | 1.785.716 | 1.931.607 | 46.460.601 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| XB1 X | 254 | 402 | 530 | 1.625 | 4.678 | 15.081 |
| XB1 S | 143 | 145 | 399 | 541 | 1.520 | 18.014 |
|PS4 Pro| 20.680 | 39.819 | 28.097 | 174.737 | 176.671 | 1.147.327 |
| PS4 | 30.497 | 96.089 | 54.464 | 320.927 | 593.255 | 6.900.427 |
| PSV | 2.164 | 14.380 | 19.405 | 33.226 | 84.972 | 5.858.580 |
|n-2DSLL| 12.672 | 22.142 | 28.061 | 80.636 | 164.853 | 1.024.880 |
| n-3DS | 2.868 | 4.752 | 17.777 | 20.313 | 85.038 | 5.876.138 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+Click here for more Japanese sales data!
