Unit sales of handheld and home video game consoles in Japan 2021
The PlayStation 5 had sold approximately 240 thousand units in Japan as of January 2021. At the same time, the Xbox Series X had sold around 24 thousand units. Sony and Microsoft both had launched the next generation of video game consoles in November 2020, with both companies offering two different versions of their products. The sales figures showed that the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and the Xbox Series S, which are downgraded but cheaper versions, sold fewer units, although the difference was slightly more pronounced in Sony's case. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch recorded almost 14.8 million sold units in total, which indicated a continuing high demand for Nintendo's console.
The Japanese console gaming market
The Japanese video game market is the third biggest gaming market in the world. While the smartphone has become the most popular gaming device in Japan today and continues to drive the economic growth of the gaming industry as a whole, the combined market of handheld and home consoles remains a large industry worth several hundred billion Japanese yen. Taken together, the most successful titles sell several million copies in the course of a single year. In 2017, the successful launch of the Nintendo Switch brought about the first growth of sales revenue for the gaming console industry after a longer period of declining revenue figures.
Leading companies
While the competition on the hardware market is more evenly distributed in other countries, Sony and Nintendo clearly outpace Microsoft on their home market. Next to two of the three major hardware companies Japan is also home to some of the world’s leading gaming software developers, such as Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Konami, Capcom, and Sega. Their products, which include game franchises like Final Fantasy or Street Fighter, are not only well-received in Japan, but also have a broad audience internationally.
The Japanese console gaming market
The Japanese video game market is the third biggest gaming market in the world. While the smartphone has become the most popular gaming device in Japan today and continues to drive the economic growth of the gaming industry as a whole, the combined market of handheld and home consoles remains a large industry worth several hundred billion Japanese yen. Taken together, the most successful titles sell several million copies in the course of a single year. In 2017, the successful launch of the Nintendo Switch brought about the first growth of sales revenue for the gaming console industry after a longer period of declining revenue figures.
Leading companies
While the competition on the hardware market is more evenly distributed in other countries, Sony and Nintendo clearly outpace Microsoft on their home market. Next to two of the three major hardware companies Japan is also home to some of the world’s leading gaming software developers, such as Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Konami, Capcom, and Sega. Their products, which include game franchises like Final Fantasy or Street Fighter, are not only well-received in Japan, but also have a broad audience internationally.
