Splatoon 2 becomes best-selling Switch title in Japan, prompting 178% rise in hardware sales

Nintendo’s Splatoon 2 went straight in at No.1 in the Japanese weekly charts last week, according to the latest figures from Famitsu, prompting a 178 per cent spike in Nintendo Switch sales as a result.

The Switch sequel to Nintendo’s family-friendly shooter shifted just shy of 671,000 copies last week, making it the best-selling Switch title to date. Until now, the best-selling Switch title had been Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, whose cumulative sales to date stand at 534,000 units.

Unsurprisingly, Splatoon 2 also had a huge lead over the second best-selling game of the week, Level-5’s Layton’s Mystery Journey on 3DS. Switch sales soared as a result, with another 102,000 consoles flying off shelves, helped probably in no small part by Nintendo’s official Splatoon 2 Switch bundle.

The New Nintendo 2DS XL continued to sell well with another 17,000 units sold, despite sales decreasing 31 per cent week-on-week. The rest of Japan’s hardware market stayed relatively stable.

Other new entries included Nippon Columbia’s 3DS title, Sumikko Gurashi, which debuted at No.5 last week, Marvelous’ Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star for Switch, which entered the charts at No.7, and Arc System Works’ Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] for PS4, which claimed the No.8 spot.

Elsewhere in the charts, Hey! Pikmin slipped one place to No.3 after a 67 per cent fall in sales week-on-week, but sales for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe actually rose by 19 per cent, no doubt off the back of increased Switch stock. The same can’t be said for Arms, however, which fell four places to No.10 after a 9 per cent drop week-on-week.

Here’s the software Top Ten in full for the week ending July 23rd:

1. Splatoon 2, Switch, Nintendo, 670,955 (New)
2. Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and The Millionaire’s Conspiracy,3DS, Level 5, 70,641 (New)
3. Hey! Pikmin, 3DS, Nintendo, 25,812
4. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, PS4, Square Enix, 19,105
5. Sumikko Gurashi: Koko, Doko nan desu, 3DS, Nippon Columbia, 16,488 (New)
6. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Switch, Nintendo, 10,531
7. Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star, Switch, Marvelous, 10,167 (New)
8. Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st], PS4, Arc System Works, 7,831 (New)
9. Gundam Versus, PS4, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, 6,010
10. ARMS, Switch, Nintendo, 5,624

And here are the hardware figures for the same period:

Nintendo Switch, 102,581
New Nintendo 2DS XL, 17,281
PlayStation 4, 21,227
New Nintendo 3DS XL, 9,223
PlayStation 4 Pro, 6,303
PlayStation Vita, 4,417
Nintendo 2DS, 1,922
New Nintendo 3DS, 405
Wii U, 214
PlayStation 3, 142
Xbox One S, 102