Nintendo Has Led Japanese Game Market For 19 Straight Years

Expert Verified By

Nobody Can Challenge Nintendo In Japan!

Story Highlights
  • Nintendo is unbeatable in Japan, as it has dominated the software and hardware charts for 19 years.
  • In the past 19 years, only the PSP was able to beat a Nintendo system as the best-selling console in a single year.
  • The company’s shares have also reached a new high recently, smashing its own record from 2007.
.

Although Nintendo is popular worldwide, its popularity in Japan is on a different level. Whether it’s software or hardware, Nintendo has always dominated the charts in Japan.

Last year, the Nintendo Switch continued to dominate hardware sales in the region, and first-party offerings outpaced the competition in software sales. According to VGC, this performance marks a 19-year streak for the gaming giant.

Why it matters: The PS5 went through its own sales boom in the region in 2023, selling 2.6 million units to beat the PS3 and PS4. However, this was still not enough to challenge its biggest rival in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom Nintendo Switch

Famitsu unveiled its annual sales report recently, and once again, Nintendo has taken over both hardware and software charts.

To nobody’s surprise, the Nintendo Switch came out on top as 2023’s best-selling console. According to Famitsu’s past data, the console rarely ever faced a challenge from the competition, with the PS5 pulling ahead for a few weeks only.

In 2023, the Nintendo Switch sold 4 million units in the region. Overall sales also went beyond 132 million, with lifetime numbers closing in on 32 million sales in Japan.

In these 19 years, only the PSP has been able to dethrone Nintendo from the hardware charts. Every other year, the DS, 3DS, or the Nintendo Switch were seen at the top.

Super Mario Wonder

On the software side, no company has been able to compete with Nintendo for 19 years. The highly-rated Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom topped the charts this year, while Super Mario Wonder and Pikmin 4 followed in second and third place.

Additionally, Nintendo shares went through a dramatic growth recently, marking a record-high for the gaming giant.

A new console from the company is also on the horizon. The Nintendo Switch 2 already has quite the following after the gaming giant’s recent performance in the market, so it should be able to continue the momentum for the 20th year in a row.

Was our article helpful? 👨‍💻

Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Join Our Community

Still having issues? Join the Tech4Gamers Forum for expert help and community support!

Latest News

Join Our Community

104,000FansLike
32,122FollowersFollow

Trending

Two Far Cry Games And Multiple Assassin’s Creed Entries Are In The Works, Confirms Ubisoft

Ubisoft has confirmed in a new interview that it is working on at least two new Far Cry games and various Assassin's Creed titles.

Study Shows AAA Games Are Losing Ground Among The Youth to Adult Content, Gambling and Doomscrolling

New study shows younger audiences spending less time playing video games and instead, moving towards adult content, gambling, and betting.

NVIDIA RTX 5090 Ti Engineering Sample Leaks — Massive Performance, 750W & Limited Launch Expected

Nvidia's new most powerful GPU the RTX 5090 Ti first ES leaked: massive performance, high Power & limited release revealed

Nioh 3 Becomes Fastest-Selling Game In The Series, Surpasses 1 Million Sales Shortly After Launch

Nioh 3 has already sold more than 1 million copies around the globe, becoming the fastest-selling title in the series.

Square Enix Teasing New NieR Automata Content As The Game Celebrates 10 Million Units Sold

Square Enix dropped a video celebrating 10 million sales for NieR: Automata, and also teased new content in the future.