Best-Selling Western Games in Japan (500k+ Sales)

The Japanese market is infamous for largely sticking to games and hardware developed in their own country. This thread is devoted to celebrating Western-developed games that have found a large audience there.

Note: Since VGChartz is currently focusing more on global shipments rather than individual countries, I'm using a combination of official statements and Famitsu information to calculate sales, including digital info when available. Sales may be higher than shown below. Thanks to the Game Data Library for the easy reference to Famitsu data.

Updated as of September 2024

1. Minecraft (7.56 million sales)

Developer: Mojang (Sweden)

Breakdown

PS3: 380.000 digital
PS4: 504,559 retail + 440,399 digital
PS Vita: 1,105,696 retail + 357,935 digital
Switch: 3,631,184 retail+ 546,295 digital
Wii U: 369,757 retail + 182,812 digital
X360: 24,394 retail
X1: 11,510 retail + 855 digital

2. Donkey Kong Country (3.25 million sales)

Developer: Rare (United Kingdom)

Breakdown

GBA: 251,878 retail sales
SNES: 3,000,000 retail sales

3. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (2.31 million)

Developer: Rare (United Kingdom)

Breakdown

GBA: 103,780
SNES: 2,210,000

4. Human Fall Flat (2.00 million)

Developer: No Brakes Games (Finland)

Breakdown (Incomplete)

Various: 600,000 sold
NS: 359,308 retail

Sources:

https://www.gonintendo.com/archives/332688-human-fall-flat-hits-600k-sold-in-japan
✨超大感謝✨#ヒューマンフォールフラット (Switch/PS5/PS4)の国内累計販売本数が200万本を突破しました！

初回となるSwitch版のリリースから5年半。じわりじわりと数を伸ばし達成することができました。

これからも新ステージを皆様にお届けできるよう努めて参ります。

(PS. 新ステ発表は今週！) pic.twitter.com/dAmop8XPNn
— Teyon Japan/テヨンジャパン (@TeyonJapan) July 24, 2023

5. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (1.87 million)

Developer: Rare (United Kingdom)

Breakdown

GBA: 100,175 retail
SNES: 1,770,000 retail

6. Grand Theft Auto V (1.81 million sales)

Developer: Rockstar North (United Kingdom)

Breakdown

PS3: 880,877 retail + 2,519 digital
PS4: 774,453 retail + 115,749 digital
PS5: 1,551 retail
X360: 33,894 retail

7. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (1.51 million)

Developer: Next Level Games (Canada)

Breakdown

3DS: 1.31 million (includes at least 1,057,707 retail + 968 digital)
NS: 195,327 retail

8. Donkey Kong Country Returns (1.31 million)

Developer: Retro Studios (USA)

Breakdown

3DS: 331,697 retail + 870 digital
Wii: 979,539 retail

9. Luigi's Mansion 3 (1.29 million)

Developer: Next Level Games (Canada)

Breakdown

NS: 1,290,000 total (includes no less than 1,030,594 retail and 98,771 digital)

Sources:

10. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1.10 million)

Developer: Naughty Dog (USA)

Breakdown

PS: 1,099,708 retail

11. Donkey Kong Land (1.07 million)

Developer: Rare (United Kingdom)

Breakdown

GB: 1,070,000 retail

12. Ghost of Tsushima (1.00 million)

Developer: Sucker Punch Productions (USA)

Breakdown (Incomplete)

PS4: 444,426 retail
PS5: 46,051 retail

Source:

🎉『Ghost of Tsushima』が誉れある日本国内100万本の実売を達成しました！

境井仁とその仲間たちとともに、鎌倉時代の日本を冒険していただいた国内ユーザーの皆さんに心から感謝いたします。 pic.twitter.com/aONdttJHmE
— プレイステーション公式 (@PlayStation_jp) May 19, 2023

13. The Witcher 3 (1.00 million)