Japan: more data for Week 32, Yo-kai Watch 3, Nintendo games (Media Create/Dengeki)
Media Create
Today, Media Create released its weekly report for video game sales in Japan, providing us with more sales data for Week 32. During that week, a total of 443 000 units were sold for Software, which amounts to 84.36% of Week 31 sales. Despite Obon, sales did drop this week, which is due to the relatively small amount of units sold for new releases.
On the other hand, already-released titles did pretty well, as shown by the data shared by Media Create:
- Yo-kai Watch 3: about 93 000 units sold (over 1 million units since launch), 144.65% of Week 31 sales. The major increase is due to both Obon and the major price drop at some retailers;
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympics: about 18 000 units for both versions combined (x1.5 compared to Week 31 sales);
- Kirby Planet Robobot: about 15 000 units, 130.40% of Week 31 sales;
- Total: 133.42% of Week 31 sales.
Media Create notes that Nintendo games were particularly popular during Obon, which isn’t all that surprising… the same happens pretty much every year! However, for 2016, sales are noticeably weaker: they only amount to 70% of sales during the same period last year (August 10th to August 16th).
Finally, we have some charts (courtesy of hiska-kun), comparing the (Media Create) sales of the following titles:
- Yo-kai Watch 3 vs Yo-kai Watch 2 and Yo-kai Watch Busters (Yo-kai Watch 3 is still lagging behind the spin-off… not a good sign);
- Kirby: Planet Robobot vs Kirby Triple Deluxe (Kirby: Planet Robobot is still lagging behind, but it’s recently surpassed its predecessor in weekly sales);
- Minecraft: Wii U Edition vs Mineacraft: PlayStation Vita Edition (the Wii U version is selling and holding surprisingly well);
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympics (Wii U and Nintendo 3DS) vs Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics (the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympics has outsold its predecessor, and the gap just widens if you add the Wii U version);
- Dragon Ball Fusions vs the other Dragon Ball games on Nintendo 3DS (good start for Dragon Ball Fusions, but sales in the upcoming weeks/months will be key).
Source: Media Create
Dengeki
Dengeki gives us some more data about Yo-kai Watch 3, such as the sales for each version:
- Sushi: ~38 000 units this week, ~518 000 in total
- Tempura: ~36 000 units this week, ~489 000 units total
- Combined: ~74 000 units this week, ~1 007 000 units
It took Yo-kai Watch 3 a total of 5 weeks to reach 1 million units, which is a pretty poor result in comparison to Yo-kai Watch 2. By the 5th week, Yo-kai Watch 2: Ganso / Honke had sold 2.06 million units, and Yo-kai Watch 2: Shin Uchi had sold 2.33 million units…
Dengeki also notes that for Week 32, Hardware sales are up week on week (+6 700 units, +9.3%), while Software sales are down (409 000 units, -18.7%). Overall, sales this Summer (June 27th to August 14th) have been pretty poor compared to last year, with 453 000 units for Hardware (-21.6%), and 3 452 000 units for Software (27.8%).
For Dengeki, the major factor for that drop is the lack of killer-apps. They use sales of popular titles from last year to illustrate this point:
- Yo-kai Watch Busters – 1.33 million units
- Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer – 850 000 units
- Splatoon – 220 000 units
On the other hand, 2016 has Yo-kai Watch 3 (which severely underperformed), and… that’s pretty much it. Titles from #2 to 5 sold 150 000 units or less, and those after that sold less than 100 000 units. Puzzle & Dragons X was one of the worst offenders when it comes to mediocre sales, with a ~90% drop from Puzzle & Dragons Z (126 000 units for the former, and 972 000 units for the latter, during the same period).
Dengeki actually believe 2016 is on track to beat the record for the worst Summer season ever, recorded in 2014 (48.1 billion Yen in sales). Will the remaining two weeks be enough to avoid that? We’ll see soon enough!
Source: Dengeki
