Leave a Comment / January 19th, 2026 / Peter Glagowski

The Switch 2 helped grow the Japanese market by almost 40% last year

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The Nintendo Switch 2 might be having a rough go of things globally, but the Japanese market for it is doing better than ever. According to new sales data published by Famitsu this morning, the release of the Switch 2 helped grow the Japanese home video game market by roughly 40% last year. As the outlet reports, the console has sold 3.78 million units in Japan, making it Japan’s fastest-selling console ever and accounting for almost half of all home consoles sold in 2025.

Along with Switch 2 outselling every other console, Nintendo’s dominance of the gaming charts continued, with nine of the top 10 best-selling games of 2025 being on Nintendo platforms (seven of which were Nintendo published). To no one’s surprise, Mario Kart World was the highest selling game in Japan with 2.6 million units moved since June. Pokémon Legends Z-A then took the number two spot with 1.5 million units for Switch 1 while the Switch 2 Edition came in third with an additional 1 million units.

 

 

Here’s how the top 10 games in Japan for 2025 break down:

 

  1. Mario Kart World (S2) – 2,668,381 sales
  2. Pokémon Legends ZA (S1) – 1,529,823 sales
  3. Pokémon Legends ZA Switch 2 Edition (S2) – 1,004,154 sales
  4. Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5) – 838,319 sales
  5. Super Mario Party Jamboree (S1) – 498,397 sales
  6. Donkey Kong Bananza (S2) – 435,206 sales
  7. Kirby’s Air Riders (S2) – 424,837 sales
  8. Minecraft (S1) – 346,606 sales
  9. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (S1) – 342,866 sales
  10. Dragon Quest 1+2 HD-2D Remake (S1) – 316,439 sales

 

All of this data highlights how Japan’s video game market has grown year over year. In 2024, the industry brought in 301.32 billion yen, rising to 418.13 billion yen in 2025. The lion’s share of that increase comes from hardware sales, which were brought on by the Switch 2. In terms of competition, the PlayStation 5 was the closest, and it only moved 879,204 units in Japan last year. That’s a nearly 60% decline from 2024 in the region. The Xbox Series platforms, which are compiled together, only moved a little over 31,000 units.

 

Check out more Switch 2 content

 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting a sneaky resolution upgrade alongside the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

 

Capcom’s Disney Afternoon Collection has been rated for Switch and Switch 2

 

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds’ physical Switch 2 will release this March 26th

 

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Peter Glagowski

Written by Peter Glagowski

Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.