Japan's Gaming Market Sees $2.9 Billion Spend on Consoles and Boxed Games in 2022

Japanese gamers spent nearly $3 billion on physical gaming products in 2022, according to Famitsu's annual report, which disclosed total sales of ¥374.8 billion ($2.9 billion) for boxed games and hardware from December 27, 2021, to December 25, 2022. This marks a 4% increase from the ¥361.4 billion ($2.8 billion) spent in 2021. The best-selling games of the year were Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which combined sold over four million copies between their November launch and December 25. Splatoon 3 followed closely, selling 3.7 million copies since its September debut. Nintendo Switch dominated the hardware market, selling 4.8 million units and bringing its total sales in Japan to 27.7 million units since its launch in March 2017. The top ten games of the year were mostly Switch titles, with nine out of ten games released for the console, including seven published by Nintendo. PlayStation 5 came in second in console sales, with 1.2 million units sold, while Xbox Series X|S had a solid year, selling 269,737 units and more than doubling its sales from the previous year.