Last 3DS Game Releases in Worst Retail Week in 20 Years in Japan - Sales
by Thomas Froehlicher , posted on 01 June 2019 / 5,598 Views
Last week, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate returned to the top of the Japanese charts. Dengeki's website has published its usual game ranking as well, and suggests that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate topping the charts again is due to a lack of relevant competition in the software market.
With no game selling more than 10,000 units, Dengeki estimates it was a record low for weekly sales in Japan, even after looking back on over 20 years' worth of data. The sales performance of Resident Evil Origins Collection for Switch (4,500 units sold), Assassin's Creed III Remastered for Switch and PS4 (6,000 units sold), and Team Sonic Racing for Switch and PS4 (6,000 units sold) is said to be "sluggish", which matches Famitsu's sales data.
However, we must take into account that digital sales aren't included in these estimates, so the picture might not be a grim as it's painted in these articles, all things considered. Still, growth of digital sales is known to be slower in Japan than in the West, so the market is very likely at a low point.
Incidentally, the last confirmed game for the 3DS - Daisenryaku Daitoakoboshi DX - sold just 738 units. According to twitter user Renka Schedule (who runs a Wiki for Japanese releases), this may mark the end of 3DS packaged games in Japan. The last anticipated 3DS game is Megaton Musashi from Level-5, but its release isn't confirmed and we're not even sure if it's still being made for Nintendo's legacy handheld at this point.
