Every week we release the Media Create numbers for Japan, which measures how many copies of software and hardware Japanese consumers purchase each week. In contrast to North America’s NPD Group, Media Create numbers paint a broad picture of just how healthy the game industry is in Japan. Because of the frequent release, we know anytime sales in Japan take a nosedive, which is exactly what they did last week.
The figures released for the period between May 11 to May 17 are the worst sales for the game industry since 2001. To give some perspective on this, the week followed Golden Week in Japan, which is several national holidays within one week that many Japanese consumers use to travel, shop, and spend money. By all logical expectations, sales should have gone up. However, during that week there was a 60% drop in sales for retail games. It’s also a 60% drop from the same time last year.
Media Create says one possible explanation for the huge drop in sales is that game publishers just aren’t producing products that people want to buy. There were no major releases that week for any platform, aside from remastered and reworked games. The chart topper was Final Fantasy X & X-2 HD for PlayStation 4, a title that has been remastered three times now.
While you may think this information isn’t relevant to the North American market, you should consider that Nintendo is watching the game market carefully and has traditionally developed their consoles with Japan in mind. If that trend continues, low sales could impact Nintendo’s decision-making for its next platform.
