PS4 Almost Outsells Xbox Series X in Japan During the Last Two Weeks

Famitsu has published sales estimates for physical video games and consoles in the Japanese market, covering the period between December 29 and January 11. Most of the data isn’t surprising, except for an interesting detail about the PS4 and Xbox Series X.

Game and Console Sales Rankings in Japan

Let’s start with software sales (numbers in parentheses show total lifetime sales):

• [SW2] Mario Kart World (Nintendo, 06/05/25) – 92,869 (2,761,250)
• [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu 2: Anata no Machi mo Kitto Aru – Higashi Nihon Hen + Nishi Nihon Hen (Konami, 11/13/25) – 61,588 (294,142)
• [SW2] Momotaro Dentetsu 2 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Konami, 11/13/25) – 52,848 (241,383)
• [SW2] Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (The Pokémon Company, 10/16/25) – 52,360 (1,056,514)
• [NSW] Pokémon Legends: Z-A (The Pokémon Company, 10/16/25) – 47,840 (1,577,663)
• [SW2] Kirby Air Riders (Nintendo, 11/20/25) – 47,712 (472,549)
• [SW2] Donkey Kong Bonanza (Nintendo, 07/17/25) – 24,974 (460,180)
• [SW2] Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV (Nintendo, 07/24/25) – 23,057 (149,493)
• [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo, 03/20/20) – 22,944 (8,334,062)
• [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 18,843 (4,128,035)

As you can see, the best-selling title during the period was Momotaro Dentetsu 2, a kind of Japanese board game similar to Monopoly. However, when versions are split across platforms, Mario Kart World takes the top spot, while combined sales of Pokémon Legends: Z-A surpass even that. As usual, the physical sales ranking is dominated entirely by Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 titles.

Hardware Sales Show an Unexpected Twist

Here are the console sales figures for the same period:

• Switch 2 – 313,838 (4,097,905)
• PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 36,856 (1,154,384)
• Switch Lite – 18,460 (6,822,925)
• Switch OLED Model – 16,916 (9,414,838)
• Switch (Standard) – 10,984 (20,224,740)
• PlayStation 5 – 6,033 (5,875,458)
• PlayStation 5 Pro – 3,864 (315,121)
• Xbox Series X Digital Edition – 149 (24,860)
• Xbox Series S – 103 (340,464)
• Xbox Series X (Standard) – 29 (323,884)
• PlayStation 4 – 25 (7,930,176)

The most curious detail is that the standard Xbox Series X model nearly sold fewer units than the PS4 — a console that’s more than a decade old. This highlights the ongoing challenge for Xbox in Japan, where Microsoft continues to struggle against the dominance of Nintendo and Sony.

Overall, Nintendo Switch 2 remains unstoppable, comfortably leading both software and hardware sales in the Japanese market.