Japan: Famitsu sales for December 2020 (Software, Hardware, Publishers)
Famitsu have shared their monthly report on video game sales in Japan, this time covering December 2020 (to be more precise, the period going from November 30th to December 27th, so 4 weeks in total).
For the second month in a row, Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban is #1 of sales with no less than 760 597 units sold: that’s +61% compared to launch month!
As expected, it enjoyed extremely strong sales during the holiday season (which isn’t quite over yet: there’s still New Year’s week, that will be part of January). It’s now sold over 1.2 million units, and sales are bound to remain strong throughout 2021. It’s already the best-selling entry in the series, and the first one to sell over 1 million units.
No entry in the Top 5 Software this month, monopolised by the usual evergreen titles on Nintendo Switch. All games but Pikmin 3 Deluxe saw a substantial increase in sales.
There’s two milestones this month:
- Ring Fit Adventure has sold over 2 million units since launch (and isn’t done selling yet!)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has sold over 4 million units at retail alone since launch
Here’s the Top 5 Software for December 2020:
01./01. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! <TBL> (Konami) {2020.11.19} (¥6.300) – 760.597 / 1.233.023 (+61%)
02./05. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons # <ETC> (Nintendo) {2020.03.20} (¥5.980) – 331.406 / 6.378.103 (+106%)
03./04. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure # <HOB> (Nintendo) {2019.10.18} (¥7.980) – 207.194 / 2.087.005 (+27%)
04./00. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe <RCE> (Nintendo) {2017.04.28} (¥5.980) – 167.725 / 3.457.183
05./02. [NSW] Pikmin 3 Deluxe <ACT> (Nintendo) {2020.10.30} (¥5.980) – 146.944 / 462.806 (-53%)
This month again, the Nintendo Switch grabbed all 5 spots in the Top 5 Software, thanks to the strong sales of the usual evergreen titles.
NSW – 5
Nintendo was once again the most successful publisher with over 1.6 million units sold: that’s more than Konami and Koei-Tecmo combined, and more than twice what Konami sold. The vast majority of sales come from evergreen titles, with those in the Top 5 Software “only” accounting for half of them.
For Konami, the vast majority of sales come from Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban!, with Jikkyou Pro Yakyuu 2020 accounting for the rest (about 43 000 units). As for Koei-Tecmo, the 218 000 units sold in December come from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Atelier Ryza 2.
Nintendo – 1.654.000
Konami – 803.000
Koei Tecmo – 218.000
Speaking of Nintendo, 2020 was one of their best year for Software sales, with 14 212 000 units sold at retail alone. With the surge of digital sales, it’s pretty safe to say that 2020 was an excellent year for them, even if they’re down to just one platform.
2003 – 7.506.668
2004 – 10.972.534
2005 – 11.029.677
2006 – No data available
2007 – No data available
2008 – No data available
2009 – No data available
2010 – 12.704.602
2011 – 10.667.868
2012 – 12.645.986
2013 – No data available
2014 – 8.380.000
2015 – 8.450.000
2016 – 5.600.000
2017 – 9.358.000
2018 – 9.918.000
2019 – 7.380.000
2020 – 14.212.000
NB: those numbers do not include sales of Pokémon games, published by The Pokémon Company in Japan (even though those are technically first-party games).
Hardware-wise, the Nintendo Switch nearly sold 1 million units in December alone, with 975 797 units sold. That’s over 300 000 units more compared to November (666 773 units sold), but about 160 000 units less than in December 2010. However, it’s worth noting that December this year only had 4 weeks, as opposed to 5 weeks for December 2019, so a drop was inevitable.
In the end, the lack of new major Nintendo title for the holiday season was not that big of a hurdle for the Nintendo Switch, which still enjoyed extremely strong sales in November and December. It ended up the year with 5 956 943 units sold vs. 4 493 885 units in 2019. LTD sales now stand at 17 340 374 units, with 3 072 092 units for the Lite model, and 14 268 282 units for the OG model (by far the most popular one).
Here’s Hardware sales for December 2020:
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|System | This Month | Last Month | Last Year | YTD | Last YTD | LTD |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| NSW # | 975.797 | 666.773 | 1.137.642 | 5.956.943 | 4.493.885 | 17.340.374 |
| PS5 # | 53.715 | 201.435 | | 255.150 | | 255.150 |
| XBS # | 3.613 | 27.811 | | 31.424 | | 31.424 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| PS5 | 42.184 | 164.438 | | 206.622 | | 206.622 |
|PS5 Dig| 11.531 | 36.997 | | 48.528 | | 48.528 |
| XBS X | 3.019 | 21.857 | | 24.876 | | 24.876 |
| XBS S | 594 | 5.954 | | 6.548 | | 6.548 |
| NSW L | 192.254 | 118.237 | 417.154 | 2.026.709 | 1.045.383 | 3.072.092 |
| NSW | 783.543 | 548.536 | 720.488 | 3.930.234 | 3.448.502 | 14.268.282 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+Click here for more Japanese sales data!
