Week after week it’s business as usual in Japan: Nintendo games dominate the sales chart, with PlayStation titles appearing sporadically, but no Xbox, which fares worse on consoles. But this week was different, since for the first time in years one of its games was the best seller in the region.
You’re not reading wrong, an Xbox game managed to beat exclusives like splatoon 3, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet And till Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe to keep the crown the week before… we are talking about Minecraft Legends.
The strategy title developed by Mojang that debuted on April 18 managed to sell 13,490 in its opening week, almost double what it got in second place (Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe7658 units), according to the physical format game sales report from Famitsu (via Gematsu), which ran from April 17 to 23, 2023.
Likewise, it is the first time that Microsoft reaches the top and also does so without any game developed by PlayStation (Sony Interactive Entertainment) being on the list.
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the victory of Minecraft Legends in Japan not so sweet for Microsoft
Of course, something that must be taken into account is that it was a very weak week in terms of releases; in fact, there were only 2 on the best-seller list; the other was the physical edition of Cuphead for Nintendo Switch (4085 units sold).
Another detail that drew attention is that the number of copies sold by the Mojang title was counted from Tuesday to Sunday (games usually debut in Japan on Fridays, so only the first 3 days of release are counted).
In case you missed it: Nintendo responded to PlayStation and clings to the top of sales in Japan.
Also, ironically, the version of Minecraft Legends The one we are talking about is that of Nintendo Switch, the most popular console in the region, and not that of Microsoft consoles (owners of the IP).
Unfortunately, there is nothing to highlight in terms of Xbox consoles, since once again the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S were the least sold current-generation consoles of the week, with 249 units sold in total.
Next we leave you with the list of sales.
software sales
- Minecraft Legends (Nintendo Switch) — 13,490
- Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe — 7658
- Pokémon Scarlet & Violet — 7527
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — 7416
- Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection — 6342
- splatoon 3 — 6039
- Minecraft — 5838
- Cuphead — 4085
- resident evil 4 (PlayStation 4)—3860
- Nintendo Switch Sports — 3789
hardware sales
- Nintendo Switch OLED — 39,763
- PlayStation 5—33,572
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition — 8183
- Nintendo Switch—7674
- Nintendo Switch Lite—4368
- PS4—789
- Xbox Series X—376
- New Nintendo 2DS LL—137
- Xbox Series S—112
What do you think of Microsoft’s unexpected achievement in Japan? Tell us in the comments.
Minecraft Legends is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. You can find more about him if you visit his file or if you consult our written review.
Related video: Minecraft Legends – Battle Trailer
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