Nintendo has now dominated Japan game sales for 19 consecutive years

Nintendo platforms have now dominated the Japanese sales charts for 19 consecutive years, according to newly published data.

On Friday, Famitsu published its latest annual report on Japan’s software and hardware sales.

It confirmed that all ten of the year’s best-selling console games were for Nintendo Switch, which itself comfortably led hardware sales.

Nintendo has dominated the physical software charts in Japan every year since 2005, according to historical Famitsu data.

In 2004, eight out of the top 10 best-selling games were PS2 titles, but since then, the majority of Japan’s top 10 games every year have been on Nintendo systems.

On the hardware front, only one year in the last 19 has seen a non-Nintendo console on top in Japan, which was when PSP was the leading platform. In every other year, either DS, 3DS or Switch were the best-selling hardware.

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Despite launching almost seven years ago, Switch sold over four million units in Japan in 2023. That compares to 4.8 million units sold the previous year, and lifetime sales are now approaching 32 million.

Its closest competitor, Sony’s relatively new PS5, sold almost 2.6 million units in 2023, which was a 124% increase on 2022’s total of 1.15 million units, reflecting greater availability of the console following Covid-related supply issues.

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S fared less well, with annual sales of 141,712 units, which was down 47% from the previous year’s total. The company has said it’s making a concerted effort to work with local talent to increase the number of Xbox titles made by Japanese developers.

PS4 sales were up 221% year-over-year to 73,292 units in 2023.

The software chart for 2023 in Japan (lifetime Japanese sales in brackets):

1. The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)- 1,929,603
2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch) – 1,549,401
3. Pikmin 4 – (Switch) 1,119,027
4. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet (Switch) – 907,432 (5,246,363)
5. Momotaro Dentetsu World (Switch) – 795,681
6. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – (Switch) 617,223 (5,631,598)
7. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe (Switch) – 514,581
8. Dragon Quest Monsters 3: The Dark Prince (Switch) – 510,477
9. Splatoon 3 (Switch) – 503,312 (4,191,126)
10. Super Mario RPG (Switch) – 447,687

Hardware sales for 2023 in Japan (lifetime Japanese sales in brackets):

1. Switch – 4,062,609 (31,786,656)
2. PS5 – 2,587,468 (4,964,857)
3. Xbox Series X/S – 141,712 (540,107)
4. PS4 – 73,292 (9,491,059)