The rise of digital and the fall of physical is moving at different rates depending on where you look in the world, but the physical game market has definitely seen one of the steepest sales declines in Japan and that trend continued in 2015. Japan’s game industry was worth ¥321 billion in 2015, giving it a 13% year-on-year decline and making it the worst it has ever been.
However, even though the numbers point at doom and gloom for the industry as a whole, that can really only be said for physical copies of games as there are no sales figures for digital games. Mobile gaming is huge in Japan so there’s definitely a lot of ground that would be made up if those sales were taken into account.
Beyond the general stats we have the breakdowns for both hardware and software sales in Japan for 2015, as well. The Nintendo 3DS and all of its various models came out on top with 2,189,900 for hardware, and Monster Hunter X sold the most with 2,441,977 for software. Scroll down to see the complete sales list for each.
Japan’s top 10 bestselling software in 2015
- 1. Monster Hunter X 3DS – 2,441,977
- 2. Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Akaneko-dan / Shiroinu-tai 3DS – 1,965,202
- 3. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer 3DS – 1,282,880
- 4. Splatoon Wii U – 1,064,897
- 5. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King 3DS – 864,865
- 6. Super Mario Maker Wii U – 674,194
- 7. Monster Strike 3DS – 636,709
- 8. Yokai Watch 2: Shinuchi – 3DS – 625,223
- 9. Rhythm Heaven: The Best+ 3DS – 607,343
- 10. Fire Emblem Fates: White Kingdom/Black Kingdom 3DS – 538,669
Japan’s bestselling hardware in 2015
- 1. Nintendo – 3DS Â 2,189,900
- 2. PS4 – 1,205,163
- 3. PS Vita – 959,342
- 4. Wii U – 820,304
- 5. PS3 – 188,207
- 6. Xbox One – 18,093
