Japan: more sales data for Week 17, 2016, Kirby: Planet Robobot + April 2016

Week 17

Yesterday, Media Create released its weekly report for video game sales in Japan, providing us with more sales data for Week 17.

During that week, a total of 762 000 units were sold Software-wise, which amounts to 188.74% of Week 16 sales. Naturally, this is due to the start of the infamous Golden Week on Friday, which led to a significant increase in both Software and Hardware sales. Compared to the same period last year (April 27th to May 3rd):

• Software sales are very slightly up (101.32% of 2015 sales during the same week)
• Hardware sales are slightly down (94.14% of 2015 sales during the same week), primarily due to the Wii U shortages (the Wii U sold 22 898 units during the same week, last year)

According to Dengeki, Kirby: Planet Robobot sold about 129 000 units during launch week (which is significantly lower than both Media Create and Famitsu’s numbers), with a sell-through ratio of 60%. As a comparison, Kirby Triple Deluxe sold 219 000 units back in January 2014.Kirby: Planet Robobot’s performance may seem a bit disappointing at first, but Dengeki certainly isn’t worried. They expect Kirby: Planet Robobot to sell steadily in the upcoming weeks/months.

Source: Media Create / Dengeki

Head after the break for the rest of this post!

April 2016 (April 4th – May 1st)

Notice: the data below was compiled by horuhe from NeoGAF, who kindly allowed us to post it here. It’s taken from Media Create’s weekly Top 20 charts. In other words, the data below is incomplete, and is only meant to give you an idea of how well recent releases sold in Japan. Please keep that in mind when reading the charts below!

Top 5 Publishers

First, let’s start with the Top 5 of publishers in Japan. In April, it’s Nintendo who sold the most games (301 559 units, 24.06% marketshare), thanks to Kirby: Planet Robobot released during the last week, and which makes up for almost half of total sales for that month (at least, for games that charted in the Top 20).

Level-5 is #3 with 206 429 units sold (16.47% market share), almost exclusively thanks to Yo-kai Sangokushi (as Yo-kai Watch Busters hasn’t charted in a while now). As for Square-Enix, most of their sales also come from one game: Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 3.

01. Nintendo – 301.559 [24.06%]
02. Konami – 248.525 [19.83%]
03. Level 5 – 206.429 [16.47%]
04. Square Enix – 138.964 [11.09%]
05. Bandai Namco Games – 96.740 [7.72%]

Top 3 Nintendo 3DS & Wii U

The top 3 best-selling games on Nintendo 3DS is no surprise… it’s the exact same Top 3 titles as in the Software Top 43! And on Wii U, Star Fox Zero wasn’t the best-selling title, though it would have been if Media Create didn’t track the two editions separately.

Nintendo 3DS

01./02. [3DS] Yo-Kai Sangokushi <SLG> (Level 5) {2016.04.02} (¥4.600) – 195.370 / 464.886 (-28%)
02./00. [3DS] Kirby: Planet Robobot <ACT> (Nintendo) {2016.04.28} (¥4.700) – 144.846 / NEW
03./01. [3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 <RPG> (Square Enix) {2016.03.24} (¥5.250) – 105.056 / 572.355 (-78%)

Wii U

01./03. [WiiU] Splatoon # <ACT> (Nintendo) {2015.05.28} (¥5.700) – 28.915 / 1.347.515 (-40%)
02./04. [WiiU] Super Mario Maker # <ACT> (Nintendo) {2015.09.10} (¥5.700) – 27.196 / 861.427 (-16%)
03./00. [WiiU] Star Fox Zero + Star Fox Guard Double Pack <Star Fox Zero \ Star Fox Guard> <STG> (Nintendo) {2016.04.21} (¥6.500) – 24.808 / NEW

Top 43

April is one of the worst months of the year for video game sales in Japan (due to the end of the school holidays, and fresh graduates starting working at their new company), and it clearly shows in the chart below.

If you look below the Top 4, you won’t find any other game which sold over 100 000 units. The biggest releases came out just before the start of the period covered (Yo-kai Sangokushi on April 2nd) or during the last week covered (Kirby: Planet Robobot and Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball). Unfortunately, May is bound to be even worse, and it’s only in June that things will start to improve noticeably.

01./02. [3DS] Yo-Kai Sangokushi <SLG> (Level 5) {2016.04.02} (¥4.600) – 195.370 / 464.886 (-28%)
02./00. [3DS] Kirby: Planet Robobot <ACT> (Nintendo) {2016.04.28} (¥4.700) – 144.846 / NEW
03./01. [3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 <RPG> (Square Enix) {2016.03.24} (¥5.250) – 105.056 / 572.355 (-78%)
04./00. [PS4] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2016 <SPT> (Konami) {2016.04.28} (¥7.980) – 101.981 / NEW
05./00. [PSV] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2016 <SPT> (Konami) {2016.04.28} (¥6.980) – 84.973 / NEW
06./00. [PS3] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2016 <SPT> (Konami) {2016.04.28} (¥6.980) – 56.477 / NEW
07./00. [PS4] One Piece: Burning Blood # <FTG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2016.04.21} (¥7.600) – 45.394 / NEW
08./00. [PSV] One Piece: Burning Blood # <FTG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2016.04.21} (¥6.800) – 42.880 / NEW
09./03. [PS4] Dark Souls III <RPG> (From Software) {2016.03.24} (¥7.430) – 38.722 / 282.269 (-84%)
10./00. [PS4] Far Cry Primal <ADV> (Ubisoft) {2016.04.07} (¥8.400) – 38.410 / NEW
11./00. [3DS] Disney Art Academy <HOB> (Nintendo) {2016.04.07} (¥3.700) – 35.971 / NEW
12./15. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition <ADV> (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2015.03.19} (¥2.400) – 29.070 / 752.549 (-38%)
13./14. [WiiU] Splatoon # <ACT> (Nintendo) {2015.05.28} (¥5.700) – 28.915 / 1.347.515 (-40%)
14./17. [WiiU] Super Mario Maker # <ACT> (Nintendo) {2015.09.10} (¥5.700) – 27.196 / 861.427 (-16%)
15./00. [WiiU] Star Fox Zero + Star Fox Guard Double Pack <Star Fox Zero \ Star Fox Guard> <STG> (Nintendo) {2016.04.21} (¥6.500) – 24.808 / NEW
16./00. [PSV] Bullet Girls 2 <ACT> (D3Publisher) {2016.04.21} (¥6.800) – 23.562 / NEW
17./00. [PS3] Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness <RPG> (Square Enix) {2016.04.28} (¥7.980) – 20.027 / NEW
18./11. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2016.02.18} (¥4.700) – 19.791 / 149.273 (-70%)
19./00. [PS4] Phantasy Star Online 2 Episode 4: Deluxe Package <RPG> (Sega) {2016.04.20} (¥4.990) – 14.950 / NEW
20./51. [3DS] Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire <RPG> (Pokémon Co.) {2014.11.21} (¥4.571) – 14.930 / 2.789.955 (+265%)
21./05. [PS4] Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness <RPG> (Square Enix) {2016.03.31} (¥7.980) – 13.881 / 126.903 (-88%)
22./06. [WiiU] Pokkén Tournament # <FTG> (Pokémon Co.) {2016.03.18} (¥7.200) – 12.413 / 124.715 (-89%)
23./00. [3DS] Terraria <ADV> (Spike Chunsoft) {2016.04.21} (¥3.800) – 11.219 / NEW
24./30. [3DS] Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Red Cat Team / White Dog Squad <ACT> (Level 5) {2015.07.11} (¥4.600) – 11.059 / 2.243.803 (-30%)
25./22. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf [Nintendo Selects] <ETC> (Nintendo) {2016.03.17} (¥2.700) – 8.731 / 31.095 (-61%)
26./00. [PSV] Rose to Tasogare no Kojou # <ACT> (Nippon Ichi Software) {2016.04.26} (¥3.980) – 8.508 / NEW
27./18. [3DS] Ansatsu Kyoushitsu: Assassin Ikusei Keikaku!! <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2016.03.24} (¥5.700) – 8.466 / 38.113 (-78%)
28./09. [PSV] Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X <ACT> (Sega) {2016.03.24} (¥6.990) – 8.420 / 87.931 (-90%)
29./00. [WiiU] Star Fox Zero <STG> (Nintendo) {2016.04.21} (¥5.700) – 8.135 / NEW
30./00. [PSV] Phantasy Star Online 2 Episode 4: Deluxe Package <RPG> (Sega) {2016.04.20} (¥4.990) – 7.043 / NEW
31./00. [PSV] Nil Admirari no Tenbin: Teito Genwaku Toukidan # <ADV> (Idea Factory) {2016.04.21} (¥6.300) – 6.987 / NEW
32./00. [PS4] Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition <Dying Light \ Dying Light: The Bozak Horde \ Dying Light: The Following> <ADV> (Warner Entertainment Japan) {2016.04.21} (¥5.980) – 6.476 / NEW
33./00. [PS4] Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition <RPG> (Spike Chunsoft) {2016.04.14} (¥7.500) – 6.179 / NEW
34./04. [PS4] Tom Clancy’s The Division <RPG> (Ubisoft) {2016.03.10} (¥8.400) – 5.755 / 125.615 (-95%)
35./00. [PSV] Eve: Burst Error R # <ADV> (Red Flagship) {2016.04.28} (¥6.800) – 5.699 / NEW
36./20. [PS4] Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence – Sengoku Risshiden # <SLG> (Koei Tecmo) {2016.03.24} (¥8.800) – 5.531 / 30.538 (-89%)
37./00. [PS4] UEFA EURO 2016: Winning Eleven 2016 <SPT> (Konami) {2016.04.21} (¥3.800) – 5.094 / NEW
38./00. [PSV] Kamigami no Asobi InFinite # <ADV> (Broccoli) {2016.04.21} (¥5.800) – 4.828 / NEW
39./00. [PSV] Brothers Conflict: Precious Baby <ADV> (Idea Factory) {2016.04.07} (¥6.800) – 3.476 / NEW
40./35. [3DS] Tomodachi Life [Nintendo Selects] <ETC> (Nintendo) {2016.03.17} (¥2.700) – 3.166 / 16.389 (-36%)
41./00. [PS4] Republique <ADV> (GungHo Online Entertainment) {2016.04.14} (¥3.600) – 3.156 / NEW
42./00. [XB1] Quantum Break # <ACT> (Microsoft Game Studios) {2016.04.07} (¥7.900) – 3.124 / NEW
43./00. [PS4] Skullgirls: 2nd Encore # <FTG> (Arc System Works) {2016.04.14} (¥4.800) – 2.678 / NEW

Total (Top 20 only): 1.253.353 units

PS4 – 13
3DS – 11
PSV – 11
WiiU – 5
PS3 – 2
XB1 – 1