Famitsu sales: Week 16, 2022 - (11th Apr - 17th Apr)

[The_Liquid_Laser]

IcaroRibeiro said:

The_Liquid_Laser said:

There is not a decline in software sales compared to Generation 8. 

There are

In 2015 the total of third party software sales (combining all platforms) were north 27 million

In 2021, those numbers are behind 16 million 

Besides that. I don't know for bow long we will be able to keep this narrative JP third parties aren't releasing their games on Switch. The only game that aren't release on Switch are the ones that absolutely can't run on Switch. Games like Resident Evil Village and Monster Hunter World that don't even need to hit big in Japan in first place because their popularity worldwide is enough to offset any decrease in interest on their home market. Indeed those are games that NEED to be popular overseas to become financially profitable

Third parties are releasing their games on Switch. They simply don't sell as much as they used to sell when Playstation platforms were relevant. In past they have to have Nintendo platforms and Playstation platforms to sell, now they only have Nintendo's 

But I agree partially with your point that Sony outright ignoring Japan is the reason behind the overall third party market decline. Just disagree Switch is a path to revive third parties. 

Sony first party output in Japan was pretty irrelevant, so Playstation ecosystem was dedicated to third parties. On Nintendo ecosystem they have competition with Nintendo IPs and of course Nintendo will advertise and prioritize their own software, third parties will have harder time selling on Switch then they used to on Playstation.  

Switch is preventing the JP market to shrink, yes, but their own first party output keeps representing half of boxed sales and I don't see this changing in future 

Let me clarify.  There is not a real decline on Nintendo systems since Generation 8, but there is a decline on Sony systems.  Third parties didn't really support Switch during launch, but third party sales have been steadily increasing on Switch ever since.  I expect, in a few years, if we compare total third party sales in Japan on 3DS and Switch, the Switch will have noticeably bigger sales.

The decline in third party sales overall is due to Sony not having a viable system in Japan anymore.  Some of these games/franchises that supported Playstation in the past are now transitioning to Switch and still more will likely release on Switch in the near future.  However, there are other franchises like Final Fantasy.  FF16 is not coming to Switch and I don't expect FF17 to come to a Nintendo system either.  This used to be a huge franchise in Japan, but it continues to shrink and shrink.  These types of games that are going to stick to Playstation are going to be recorded as a loss to third party sales in Japan.  Sony doesn't have a viable platform in Japan anymore.  That is where the loss is coming from.  Elden Ring is going to sell 20m copies worldwide at a bare minimum (maybe even 30m+).  How many third party Japanese games sell like this?  It's bigger than any Final Fantasy, and it's a Japanese game.  Shouldn't it be selling even better in Japan than it is?  These sales in Japan are low for a game like Elden Ring, because Sony just doesn't have a viable platform there anymore.  In order for third party sales in Japan to stay high overall, a game like Elden Ring would have to come to a Nintendo system.

"But I agree partially with your point that Sony outright ignoring Japan is the reason behind the overall third party market decline. Just disagree Switch is a path to revive third parties."

We may have to agree to disagree.  But I very much reject the idea that third parties cannot compete with Nintendo on their own system.  The reality is that third party games compete with Nintendo when they are on Playstation.  And so games like Final Fantasy are just not going to sell like they used to because they are on Playstation.  Nintendo isn't trying to compete with third party games.  They are trying to compete with Playstation.  (And they are winning by a landslide.)  Meanwhile, when an actual killer third party game does release on Switch, like Monster Hunter Rise, it sells great.  The main reason that third party games can't compete is that they are on the wrong platform.

Furthermore, the main big franchises that Nintendo gets on their platforms are Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest.  Every time one of these games releases on a Nintendo system, we see a crapload of time invested into these games on Nintendo Directs.  I just don't see how Nintendo is giving these big games the shaft.  If some other big franchises were to release their game on the Switch, I bet Nintendo would give them some good marketing too.