Japan's physical games sales at all time low since 1988

**Becky** Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:37 pm

Physical games sales in Japan dropped 13% on year on year sales down to ¥321 Billion. This does not included digital but most of Japan's sales are still physical. Is this going to cause more developers to go the mobile only route?

These were the top 10 selling games last year in Japan,

1. Monster Hunter X (Capcom) 3DS – 2,441,977
2. Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Akaneko-dan / Shiroinu-tai (Level 5) 3DS – 1,965,202
3. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (Nintendo) 3DS – 1,282,880
4. Splatoon (Nintendo) Wii U – 1,064,897
5. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Square Enix) 3DS – 864,865
6. Super Mario Maker (Nintendo) Wii U – 674,194
7. Monster Strike (Mixi) 3DS – 636,709
8. Yokai Watch 2: Shinuchi (Level 5) – 3DS – 625,223
9. Rhythm Heaven: The Best+ (Nintendo) 3DS - 607,343
10. Fire Emblem Fates: White Kingdom/Black Kingdom (Birthright / Conquest) (Nintendo) 3DS – 538,669

Now a 13% fall and all time low since 1988 sounds awful, but looking at that list there was no killer title released last year, we have top 3 dominated by spin offs, then a new IP on Wii U which hasn't got the largest install base and then a remake. Yokai Watch 2 was a killer title of the year before. So really is it surprising that sales were at an almost all time low?

Does this news make you worried about the future of gaming? Or do you think the lack of a killer title and the omission of downloads account for this fall?

[Source]

**KENT HAMMER** Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:08 pm

Japan is a small market though really these days.

They love their tech over there so I think gaming will always thrive

Japan's physical games sales at all time low since 1988

Japan's physical games sales at all time low since 1988

Re: Japan's physical games sales at all time low since 1988