Nintendo Change and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet end the yr within the prime spots
Based on Famitsu journal’s end-of-year report for 2022, the annual gross sales whole for boxed video games and {hardware} units in Japan got here in at a whopping ¥374.8 billion ($2.9 billion USD).
This spectacular determine marks a 4% improve in comparison with the ¥361.4 billion ($2.8 billion) spent by Japanese avid gamers in 2021.
Ending within the prime place for the best-selling sport in 2022 was Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Collectively the pair has offered over 4 million models since its late November launch.
In a considerably stunning consequence, Splatoon 3 took the 2nd place place, with greater than 3.7 million retail copies being offered.
Studies for December confirmed Splatoon 3 in 1st place, it was solely because of an inflow of Christmas gross sales that noticed Pokémon Scarlet and Violet finish 2022 because the best-selling sport of the yr.
In truth, 9 out of the highest 10 video games for 2022 had been Nintendo Change titles, 7 of which had been printed by both Nintendo themselves or considered one of their associates. The one sport not printed by Nintendo to make the highest 10 was Bandai Namco’s Elden Ring, which completed the yr at quantity 10.
The European and UK gross sales charts however ended the yr with neither Pokémon Violet nor Scarlet making the highest 10, displaying as soon as once more that the gaming tradition between the 2 areas nonetheless differs vastly.
Nonetheless, it’s value mentioning that if the European charts had mixed the two Pokémon video games the identical method the Japanese charts do, they’d have completed the yr greater on the record.
For the best-selling console of the yr, it’s no shock that the Nintendo Change got here out on prime as soon as extra, promoting over 4.8 million units in Japan in 2022. This marks a powerful whole of 27.7 million models offered within the area since March 2017, when the console was first launched.
The PS5 took 2nd place in console gross sales, with some 1.2 million consoles offered. This determine doubles the general gross sales since launch, which now stands at 2.4 million.
The Xbox Sequence X|S additionally had an excellent yr in Japan, promoting almost 270,000 consoles in whole. This determine takes Microsoft’s whole variety of consoles offered in Japan to nearly 400,000, which means that Xbox greater than doubled its console gross sales from the earlier yr.
That’s it for the rundown of the Japanese charts for 2022. Try under for the total prime 10 record, as compiled by Famitsu:
1. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet (Change, The Pokémon Firm) – 4.3 million
2. Splatoon 3 (Change, Nintendo) – 3.7 million
3. Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Change, The Pokémon Firm) – 2.3 million
4. Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Change, Nintendo) – 966,047
5. Nintendo Change Sports activities (Change, Nintendo) – 887,772
6. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Change, Nintendo) – 742,018
7. Minecraft (Change, Nintendo) – 548,415
8. Mario Occasion Superstars (Change, Nintendo) – 485,594
9. Tremendous Smash Bros Final (Change, Nintendo) – 441,053
10. Elden Ring (PS4, Bandai Namco) – 356,711