Nintendo dominated the Japanese market in 2023

The Switch generation has seen Nintendo top many markets, with the aging console still continuing to sell like hotcakes despite nearing its end-of-life. One of Nintendo's biggest markets is unsurprisingly Japan. Though they may have a home advantage, Nintendo and the Switch still managed to completely dominate the market – especially when it came to software sales.

As reported by the Japanese publication Famitsu (and translated by VGC), Nintendo took the top spot in 2023 when it came to consoles sold. Though it dropped by 15% year-on-year, the Switch remained the highest-selling console with over 4 million systems sold in 2023.

Sony’s PlayStation 5 landed in second place with just under 2.6 million consoles sold (despite a massive jump of 124%) – and Xbox unsurprisingly finished in 3rd with 141k units sold (a 47% decline YoY).

While already impressive, it was in the software where Nintendo truly shined, with every single one of the top 10 best-selling games being Switch exclusives:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (1,929,603 copies)
2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder (1,549,401 copies)
3. Pikmin 4 (1,119,027 copies)
4. Pokemon Scarlet/Violet (907,432 copies)
5. Momotaro Dentetsu World: The Earth Spins with Hope (795,681 copies)
6. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (617,223 copies)
7. Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe (514,581 copies)
8. Dragon Quest Monsters 3: Journey of the Demon Prince and the Elf (510,477 copies)
9. Splatoon 3 (503,312 copies)
10. Super Mario RPG (447,687 copies)

Considering just how much the Japanese market seems to love the Nintendo Switch, it will be interesting to see how popular the system’s successor winds up being received upon its release (hopefully) some time this year.

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KitGuru says: What did you think of Nintendo’s output in 2023? Will the Switch 2 release this year? Could PlayStation ever surpass Nintendo in Japan? Let us know down below.

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