Japan: more sales data for Week 19 2018, Fiscal Year 2017, DKC Tropical Freeze (Media Create, Dengeki)

More sales data from Japan, with the latest reports from Media Create and Dengeki!

Media Create (Week 19)

Today, Media Create published their weekly report on video game sales in Japan during Week 19, 2018. It reveals that total Hardware sales topped 58 000, which is only 55.61% of Week 18 sales. Software sales are also down to 226 000, which is 41.36% of Week 18 sales.

Media Create points out that this is pretty normal for the week that follows the Golden Week, so there’s nothing really surprising in both Software and Hardware sales dropping by about 50%.

But this year is particularly bad, especially for Software: sales are even worse than last year during the same week (233 000 units between May 8th and May 14th 2017), which already was the worst week for the market since 2001. Week 19 was in fact one of the worst weeks on record for the Japanese market, period.

With such low sales all around, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze had no trouble staying at the top of the Top 20 Software, with 26 000 units sold during its second week on the market. Total sales topped 114 000, which means it will outsell the Wii U version in a couple of weeks (131 000 units LTD).

Source: Media Create

Dengeki (Week 19, Fiscal Year)

Just like last week, Dengeki report slightly higher sales for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, with 27 000 units sold during Week 19, and over 120 000 units LTD. Splatoon 2 sold 13 000 units during that week (2 361 000 units LTD), and Kirby Star Allies about 10 000 units (511 000 units LTD).

Just like Media Create, Dengeki report a harsh drop in sales for both Hardware and Software for the week following the Golden Week (that didn’t see the release of a single game):

• Hardware: 55 000 units (-48.8%)
• Software: 217 000 units (-60.9%)

Dengeki point out that the Nintendo Switch account for nearly 70% of the games in the Top 20 (13 games), with the PlayStation 4 only getting 5. The Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita both managed to place 1 game in the Top 20 each (the Nintendo 3DS would have had 2 games in the Top 20 if Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were counted as a single game, like in the Top 20 from Media Create).

During the past Fiscal Year, the market share of handheld devices has dropped sharply compared to the previous one. In FY 2016, the market share was 55.5% for home consoles, and 45.5% for handhelds. But in FY 2017, the market share of home consoles jumped to 78.3%, and the one of handhelds dropped to 21.7%. (For the record, all trackers, including Dengeki, track the Nintendo Switch as a home console).

Naturally, Dengeki do not expect that trend to stop any time soon: in fact, it will only get “worse” moving forward, especially as they do not expect any significant growth for the Nintendo 3DS.

And thanks to the successful Nintendo Switch, Nintendo platforms saw their market share grow during the past Fiscal Year. During FY 2016, that market share was 44% for Nintendo platforms and 55.4% for Sony platforms, but in FY 2017, it was 58% and 41.9% respectively.

As mentioned several times before, the big “battle” of 2018 is going to be between the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4. Dengeki is going to pay particular attention to how the market share of the two companies evolves in the future.

Next, here’s Software sales for each platform:

Platforms	This week	This week (%)	Fiscal Year	Fiscal Year (%)
PS4	67,229	31.0％	818,868	35.0％
Vita	16,126	7.4％	201,458	8.6％
Switch	105,512	48.6％	1,040,327	44.5％
3DS	26,537	12.2％	262,731	11.2％
ETC	1,616	0.7％	14,224	0.6％
Total	217,020	100.0％	2,337,608	100.0％

And here’s Hardware sales:

Platforms	This week	This week (%)	Fiscal Year	Fiscal Year (%)
PS4	16,286	29.7％	108,943	26.3％
Vita	1,869	3.4％	19,689	4.8％
Switch	29,844	54.5％	228,363	55.1％
3DS	6,611	12.1％	56,530	13.6％
ETC	147	0.3％	900	0.2％
Total	54,757	100.0％	414,425	100.0％

Finally, here’s the Top 50 Software:

01./01. [NSW] Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Nintendo) {2018.05.03} – 27,428 / 119,656
02./02. [PS4] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2018 (Konami) {2018.04.26} – 14,471 / 183,621
03./05. [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo) {2017.07.21} – 12,767 / 2,361,201
04./03. [NSW] Kirby Star Allies (Nintendo) {2018.03.16} – 10,139 / 511,427
05./06. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo) {2017.04.28} – 9,106 / 1,555,753
06./04. [NSW] Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit (Nintendo) {2018.04.20} – 8,267 / 153,899
07./07. [PSV] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2018 (Konami) {2018.04.26} – 6,161 / 83,556
08./09. [PS4] God of War (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2018.04.20} – 5,424 / 93,057
09./08. [NSW] The Snack World: TreJarers (Level 5) {2018.04.12} – 4,750 / 78,871
10./11. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo) {2017.03.03} – 3,917 / 755,715
11./10. [NSW] Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo) {2017.10.27} – 3,406 / 1,644,504
12./28. [PS4] Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege – Advanced Edition (Ubisoft) {2018.03.01} – 2,471 / 46,275
12./16. [PS4] Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft) {2018.03.29} – 2,018 / 134,772
14./19. [3DS] Detective Pikachu (Pokemon Co.) {2018.03.23} – 1,806 / 81,734
15./12. [NSW] SD Gundam G Generation: Genesis for Nintendo Switch (Bandai Namco Games) {2018.04.26} – 1,800 / 22,151
16./12. [NSW] Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit (Nintendo) {2018.04.20} – 1,639 / 37,189
17./22. [PS4] Monster Hunter: World (Capcom) {2018.01.26} – 1,541 / 1,990,428
18./20. [NSW] Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2 for Nintendo Switch (Bandai Namco Games) {2017.09.07} – 1,528 / 179,136
19./14. [NSW] ARMS (Nintendo) {2017.06.16} – 1,511 / 427,326
20./18. [NSW] Pokken Tournament DX (Pokemon Co.) {2017.09.22} – 1,489 / 262,040
21./23. [PS4] Cities: Skylines – PlayStation 4 Edition (Spike Chunsoft) {2018.04.12} – 1,424 / 28,432
22./15. [NSW] Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy for Nintendo Switch (Bandai Namco Games) {2018.04.26} – 1,367 / 14,178
23./17. [NSW] 1-2-Switch (Nintendo) {2017.03.03} – 1,350 / 457,601
24./21. [PS4] Utawarerumono: Chiriyukusha e no Komoriuta (Aqua Plus) {2018.04.26} – 1,306 / 20,836
25./27. [3DS] Pokemon Ultra Moon (Pokemon Co.) {2017.11.17} – 1,233 / 794,519
26./25. [3DS] Pokemon Ultra Sun (Pokemon Co.) {2017.11.17} – 1,161 / 817,750
27./24. [3DS] Mario Party: The Top 100 (Nintendo) {2017.12.28} – 1,133 / 201,576
28./26. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo (Nintendo) {2016.11.23} – 1,117 / 354,333
29./48. [PS4] Kingdom Hearts HD I.5 + II.5 ReMIX (Square Enix) {2017.03.09} – 1,035 / 155,280
30./45. [PS4] Persona 5 (Atlus) {2016.09.15} – 1,024 / 437,115
31./36. [PS4] The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II Kai – The Erebonian Civil War (Nihon Falcom) {2018.04.26} – 1,006 / 15,075
32./30. [NSW] FIFA 18 (Electronic Arts) {2017.09.29} – 983 / 126,231
33./38. [PS4] Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2015.12.03} – 965 / 316,792
34./53. [PS4] Grand Theft Auto V (Take-Two Interactive Japan) {2015.10.08} – 924 / 373,733
35./32. [NSW] Dragon Quest Builders (Square Enix) {2018.03.01} – 922 / 54,642
36./33. [NSW] Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Koei Tecmo) {2018.03.22} – 906 / 45,998
37./31. [3DS] Kirby Battle Royale (Nintendo) {2017.11.30} – 894 / 173,900
38./34. [NSW] Cube Creator X (Arc System Works) {2018.04.26} – 883 / 4,723
39./52. [PS4] Call of Duty: WWII (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2017.11.03} – 818 / 435,818
40./29. [NSW] Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Nintendo) {2018.01.18} – 800 / 213,899
41./58. [PS4] Like the North Star (Sega) {2018.03.08} – 800 / 168,092
42./43. [PS4] Metal Max Xeno (Kadokawa Games) {2018.04.19} – 794 / 19,717
43./50. [PS4] Death end re;Quest (Compile Heart) {2018.04.12} – 756 / 25,198
44./40. [PSV] Utawarerumono: Chiriyukusha e no Komoriuta (Aqua Plus) {2018.04.26} – 744 / 11,688
45./54. [PS4] Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet (Bandai Namco Games) {2018.02.08} – 744 / 116,520
46./51. [PS4] Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Level 5) {2018.03.23} – 741 / 93,637
47./39. [PSV] Minecraft: Playstation Vita Edition (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2015.03.19} – 733 / 1,204,585
48./35. [NSW] Attack on Titan 2 (Koei Tecmo) {2018.03.15} – 728 / 55,678
49./55. [PS4] Super Robot Wars X (Bandai Namco Games) {2018.03.29} – 713 / 108,224
50./37. [NSW] Portal Knights (Spike Chunsoft) {2018.04.19} – 700 / 7,626

Source: Dengeki
Top 50 data compiled by ZSaberLink (ResetEra)

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