Pikmin 4 tops the Japanese charts for the third week in a row
Pikmin 4 has topped the Japanese physical game charts for the third week running.
As reported by Famitsu, the sequel was the best-selling game for the week ending August 6, selling 78,838 copies to bring its total physical sales so far in Japan to 596,388.
In second place was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which has now sold more than 1.8 million units in physical Japanese copies alone.
As has become a regular occurrence in Japan, all 10 games in the top 10 for the week were Switch titles.
When Pikmin 4 launched last month, its first week sales in Japan were more than those of the first three Pikmin games combined.
It should also be noted that these charts only count physical sales and Nintendo hasn’t shared information on how many digital copies of Pikmin 4 have been sold to date, meaning the actual total is likely notably higher.
Before the release of Pikmin 4, the best launch for a game in the series was the Switch re-release of Pikmin 3 (titled Pikmin 3 Deluxe), which sold 171,349 physical copies in its first week. Pikmin 4’s first week sales, however, were 401,853.
The game’s success in Japan is likely due in part to a widespread advertising campaign for the game which took place throughout the country, something VGC can attest to having been in Japan in the two weeks leading up to its release.
VGC’s Pikmin 4 review calls the game “a brilliant entry point for new players”, saying: “Pikmin 4 is a smart and content-packed refinement of one of Nintendo’s most underrated series, but long-time fans may be put off by how long its generous campaign takes to get going.”
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