Nintendo’s Japan dominance continues as Switch 2 fuels 40% market growth in 2025
For the 21st consecutive year, the majority of Japan’s best-selling games were on Nintendo
Nintendo Switch 2 helped grow the Japanese home video game market by nearly 40% in 2025, as the company extended its over two-decade dominance over Japan’s sales charts.
Switch 2 sold 3.78 million units in 2025, making it Japan’s fastest-selling console ever and accounting for more than half of all home consoles sold that year, according to annual sales data published by Famitsu.
For the 21st consecutive year, Nintendo games dominated the best-selling physical games chart, with Switch and Switch 2 games taking nine of the top ten places, and likely 18 of the top 20.
Switch 2’s Mario Kart World sold a huge 2.66 million physical copies, making it the annual best-selling console game in Japan since Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and Splatoon 3, which were released in 2022. Last year’s best-selling game in Japan was Mario Party Jamboree with 954,261 sales.
As a result, Japan’s domestic games market is estimated to have grown from 301.32 billion yen in 2024 to 418.13 billion yen in 2025. The majority of this growth comes from hardware sales, which rose from 189.4 billion yen to 282.6 billion yen.
Japan’s best-selling console hardware last year was Nintendo Switch 2 (3,784,067), followed by Nintendo Switch (1,520,384), PlayStation 5 (879,204), Xbox Series X|S (31,226), and PlayStation 4 (1,087).
That means Nintendo has had the best-selling game hardware in Japan in all but one year (when PSP was the leading platform) for the past two decades, across Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, and now, Nintendo Switch 2.
Nintendo’s closest competitor in Japan, PlayStation 5, has now seen its sales decline for two consecutive years. In 2025, PS5 sales were down 60%, despite the launch of a new, cheaper model.
PS5 sold 1.4 million units in 2024, which was down significantly compared to the 2.6 million sold in 2023, when the availability of consoles was boosted following Covid-related supply issues. Sony raised the price of PS5 in Japan by 20% last year.
Japan’s Best Selling Games of 2025
(Individual platform versions / Physical only / Source: Famitsu)
- Mario Kart World (Switch 2) – 2,668,381
- Pokémon Legends Z-A (Switch) – 1,529,823
- Pokémon Legends Z-A (Switch 2) – 1,004,154
- Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5) – 838,319
- Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch) – 498,397
- Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2) – 435,206
- Kirby Air Riders (Switch 2) – 424,837
- Minecraft (Switch) – 346,606
- Mario Kart 7 Deluxe (Switch) – 342,866
- Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (Switch) – 316,439
Famitsu has not revealed places beyond ten, but Game Data Library’s weekly sales archive suggests the following additional placements (sales marked with ~ are estimated):
- Animal Crossing New Horizons (Switch) – 288,683
- Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch) – 277,204
- Momotaro Dentetsu 2 (Switch) ~233,000
- Tamagotchi Plaza (Switch) – ~222,931
- Ghost of Yotei (PS5) – 199,870
- Momotaro Dentetsu 2 (Switch 2) – ~190,000
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Switch) – ~179,237
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (Switch 2) – ~147,000
- Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (Switch 2) – ~135,000
- Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Switch) – ~134,000
