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

Famitsu have shared their latest monthly report on video game sales in Japan, this time covering March 2022 (to be more precise, the period going from February 28th to March 27th 2022, so 4 weeks in total).

Unsurprisingly, Kirby and the Forgotten Land was the best-selling game in March, despite releasing at the very end of the tracking period (only 3 days tracked!). It sold nearly 400 000 units at retail alone (380 060 units to be precise), which is the best debut ever for a Kirby game (the previous record holder was Kirby Super Star Ultra on Nintendo DS with 260 867 units sold).

It’s a much better debut than Kirby Star Allies, which sold “only” 223 811 units at launch… and that’s not counting digital sales, which are bound to be fairly substantial (the game was #1 in the monthly Nintendo eShop charts in March). Kirby’s first full 3D mainline entry is poised to sell well over 1 million units at retail alone, and before the end of the year to boot.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus saw another big drop in sales due to the lack of holiday season to boost sales, as well as an older audience compared to regular Pokémon games. And yet, it still managed to grab the #2 spot in the Top 5 Software with 125 851 additional units sold.

Here’s the Top 10 Software for March 2022:

01./00. [NSW] Kirby and the Forgotten Land <ACT> (Nintendo) {2022.03.25} (¥5.980) – 380.060 / NEW
02./01. [NSW] Pokemon Legends: Arceus <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2022.01.28} (¥5.980) – 125.851 / 2.195.400 (-80%)
03./02. [PS4] Elden Ring # <RPG> (From Software) {2022.02.25} (¥8.400) – 119.056 / 307.546 (-37%)
04./00. [NSW] Triangle Strategy <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.03.04} (¥6.982) – 117.800 / NEW
05./00. [PS4] Gran Turismo 7 <RCE> (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2022.03.04} (¥6.900) – 100.415 / NEW
06./00. [PS5] Gran Turismo 7 # <RCE> (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2022.03.04} (¥7.900) – 90.699 / NEW
07./06. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe <RCE> (Nintendo) {2017.04.28} (¥5.980) – 62.386 / 4.518.473 (+12%)
08./00. [NSW] Minecraft # <ADV> (Microsoft Game Studios) {2018.06.21} (¥3.600) – 41.998 / 2.574.724
09./09. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate # <FTG> (Nintendo) {2018.12.07} (¥7.200) – 39.307 / 4.822.623 (-10%)
10./00. [PS4] Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin <RPG> (Square Enix) {2022.03.18} (¥8.000) – 36.664 / NEW

In March, the Nintendo Switch grabbed an additional spot in the Top 10 Software compared to February, thanks to strong new releases.

NSW – 6
PS4 – 3
PS5 – 1

Nintendo was the most successful publisher in March with over 700 000 units sold (712 000 units to be precise). Half of those sales come from Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and the rest from the usual evergreen titles.

1. Nintendo – 720 000 units
2. Sony Interactive Entertainment – 228 000 units
3. Square-Enix – 220 000 units
4. All publishers – 2 000 000 units

Hardware-wise, March was a fairly good month for the Nintendo Switch (though it was nowhere near as good as March 2020 and 2021, which had Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Monster Hunter Rise respectively). The console ended up selling slightly worse than in February, with 364 495 units sold (compared to 377 678 units in February).

Sales have certainly slowed down compared to the past couple of years, but they remain unusually strong, especially for a console that has now entered its 6th year on the market. The line-up for 2022 is shaping up pretty well (Nintendo Switch Sports on April 29th, Splatoon 3 this Summer, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet this Fall, just to name a few), and it looks like it will be yet another strong year for Nintendo’s console.

+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|System | This Month | Last Month |  Last Year |     YTD    |  Last YTD  |     LTD     |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| NSW # |    364.495 |    377.678 |    519.138 |  1.357.610 |  1.744.974 |  24.277.111 |
| PS5 # |     94.407 |     65.772 |    157.352 |    274.182 |    325.061 |   1.497.517 |
| XBS # |      7.227 |     21.029 |      4.492 |     35.632 |      8.585 |     164.290 |
| 3DS # |      1.539 |      1.499 |      3.409 |      5.048 |      9.368 |  24.592.496 |
| PS4 # |         50 |         40 |     10.833 |        171 |     59.889 |   9.395.115 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|  ALL  |    467.718 |    466.018 |    695.224 |  1.672.643 |  2.147.877 |  61.110.873 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|  PS5  |     83.649 |     59.511 |    128.793 |    242.624 |    278.854 |   1.271.750 |
| PS5DE |     10.758 |      6.261 |     28.559 |     31.558 |     46.207 |     225.767 |
| XBS X |      4.304 |      7.944 |      2.753 |     15.940 |      5.760 |      89.231 |
| XBS S |      2.923 |     13.085 |      1.739 |     19.692 |      2.825 |      75.059 |
|NSWOLED|    212.030 |    201.034 |            |    718.224 |            |   1.490.352 |
| NSW L |     55.009 |     63.023 |    180.327 |    237.602 |    454.891 |   4.648.386 |
|  NSW  |     97.456 |    113.621 |    338.811 |    401.784 |  1.290.083 |  18.138.373 |
|  PS4  |         50 |         40 |     10.772 |        171 |     59.665 |   7.819.392 |
|n-2DSLL|      1.539 |      1.499 |      3.409 |      5.048 |      9.368 |   1.197.551 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+

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

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