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Forums - Sales Discussion - Famitsu Sales: Week 31, 2020 (Jul 27 - Aug 02)

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noshten on 07 August 2020
Prior look at 3rd Parties on the Switch - July 20th

3rd Party Top 30 Switch

  1. Minecraft (Microsoft Game Studios) - 1.458.336
  2. Dragon Quest XI S (Square Enix) - 540.252
  3. Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun! (Bandai Namco) - 495.240
  4. Fishing Spirits: Nintendo Switch Version (Bandai Namco) - 465.408
  5. Yo-kai Watch 4* (Level 5) - 358.356
  6. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Sega) - 326.466
  7. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate* (Capcom) - 309.596
  8. Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Square Enix) - 295.237
  9. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball (Konami) - 225.614
  10. Super Bomberman R3* (Konami) - 215.218
  11. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft) - 213.453
  12. Octopath Traveller (Square Enix) - 193.780
  13. Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2 (Bandai Namco) - 181.090
  14. eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 (Konami) - 159.030(+10)
  15. Disney Tsum Tsum Festival (Bandai Namco) - 149.562
  16. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (Marvelous) - 146.363
  17. Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission (Bandai Namco) - 145.720
  18. FIFA 18 (EA) - 122.998
  19. Fitness Boxing (Imagineer) - 122.467
  20. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 (Bandai Namco) - 117.954
  21. Doraemon: Story of Seasons (Bandai Namco) - 112.104
  22. Pro Baseball Famista Evolution (Bandai Namco) - 110.954
  23. The Snack World: TreJarers Gold (Level 5) - 109.955
  24. Trials of Mana (Square Enix) - 100.451
  25. Dragon Ball FighterZ (Bandai Namco) - 92.697
  26. FIFA 19 (EA) - 89.875
  27. Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: The Official Video Game (Sega) - 87.370
  28. Sumikko Gurashi (Nippon Columbia) - 84.957
  29. Puyo Puyo Tetris S (Sega) - 83.433
  30. Go Vacation (Bandai Namco) - 80.842

TOTAL: 7.194.778

  1. Bandai Namco - 1.951.571
  2. Microsoft - 1.458.336
  3. Square Enix - 1.129.720
  4. Konami - 599.862
  5. Sega - 497.269
  6. Level 5 - 468.311
  7. Capcom - 309.596
  8. Koei Tecmo - 295.751
  9. EA - 269.759
  10. Marvelous - 257.874
  11. Ubisoft - 213.453
  12. Imagineer - 122.467
  13. Nippon Columbia - 84.957

  • Konami's eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 is the only title to see big growth since the last update
  • Momotaro Dentetsu has not exited the Top 10 on Amazon since it's reveal, good chance that Konami surpasses 1.2M by the end of 2020
  • The next major 3rd Party title to release is Bandai Namco's Captain Tsubasa, this one will likely have around 50K opening but based on Taiko and Fishing Spirits' performance, I would position it as the big sleeper hit of the summer. 
  • Atlus is the other company that should finally make the list this year due to SMT III
  • Koei Tecmo had another mediocre release, this time Gust's Fairy Tail, their chances for a hit are Atelier Ryza 2 which I hope could sell at least 100K
  • Marvelous is very likely to move above Koei, Capcom & EA by the end of the year due to Rune Factory 5(as long is doesn't get delayed), Sakuna is more of an unknown perhaps it might also do well in Japan and make the Top 30

By the end of the year we can expect that all titles in the Top 30 would need to sell at least 100K to make it there. It's extremely likely that Momotaro becomes the second best-selling 3rd Party Game on the Switch by the end of 2020. Captain Tsubasa is the title that could push Bandai beyond 2M. Microsoft remains unchallenged at the top. Square still hasn't dated Bravely Default 2, which would be their biggest title on the Switch for 2020. Sega, Level 5, Capcom will continue to stagnate positions in the chart since they have nothing major announced, while Nippon is extremely likely to exit the chart by the end of the quarter. If Fifa does decently EA will have sold more physical software than Capcom on the system by the end of the year - an unprecedented partnership indeed. 

Still announced support is much better for the rest of the year compared to 2019, but there is still time for games to be delayed so until we have dates - it's too early to say if 3rd Parties will be able to really expand their audience on the Switch these holidays. If Bravely Default 2, Rune Factory 5, Atelier Ryza 2, Momotaro Dentetsu, SMT III all are launched in time for the holidays I do expect them to do very well for their publishers.

Since the last update, there haven't been that many titles revealed and there is very little time to reveal anything major for the end of the year. The big losers this holiday are shaping up to be Capcom, Level 5 and Sega - so if anything - I'd be expecting "something" more from them. But I'm not holding my breath :) 

Also very relevant post regarding 3rd Party strategy by Chris on resetera:

"Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2016 (PS4/PS3/PSV) shipped 500.000 at 24 August 2016, 4 months after release (28 April 2016).
For Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2018 (PS4/PSV - 26 April 2018 release) there wasn't official announcement for when the milestone was passed, Playstation Awards 2018 had is half million seller in Asia.
eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 (PS4/NSW) shipped 500.000 at 7 August 2020, 1 month after release (9 July 2020)."

Last edited by noshten - on 07 August 2020

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Agente42 on 07 August 2020
noshten said:
Prior look at 3rd Parties on the Switch - July 20th

3rd Party Top 30 Switch

  1. Minecraft (Microsoft Game Studios) - 1.458.336
  2. Dragon Quest XI S (Square Enix) - 540.252
  3. Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun! (Bandai Namco) - 495.240
  4. Fishing Spirits: Nintendo Switch Version (Bandai Namco) - 465.408
  5. Yo-kai Watch 4* (Level 5) - 358.356
  6. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Sega) - 326.466
  7. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate* (Capcom) - 309.596
  8. Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Square Enix) - 295.237
  9. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball (Konami) - 225.614
  10. Super Bomberman R3* (Konami) - 215.218
  11. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft) - 213.453
  12. Octopath Traveller (Square Enix) - 193.780
  13. Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2 (Bandai Namco) - 181.090
  14. eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 (Konami) - 159.030(+10)
  15. Disney Tsum Tsum Festival (Bandai Namco) - 149.562
  16. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (Marvelous) - 146.363
  17. Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission (Bandai Namco) - 145.720
  18. FIFA 18 (EA) - 122.998
  19. Fitness Boxing (Imagineer) - 122.467
  20. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 (Bandai Namco) - 117.954
  21. Doraemon: Story of Seasons (Bandai Namco) - 112.104
  22. Pro Baseball Famista Evolution (Bandai Namco) - 110.954
  23. The Snack World: TreJarers Gold (Level 5) - 109.955
  24. Trials of Mana (Square Enix) - 100.451
  25. Dragon Ball FighterZ (Bandai Namco) - 92.697
  26. FIFA 19 (EA) - 89.875
  27. Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: The Official Video Game (Sega) - 87.370
  28. Sumikko Gurashi (Nippon Columbia) - 84.957
  29. Puyo Puyo Tetris S (Sega) - 83.433
  30. Go Vacation (Bandai Namco) - 80.842

TOTAL: 7.194.778

  1. Bandai Namco - 1.951.571
  2. Microsoft - 1.458.336
  3. Square Enix - 1.129.720
  4. Konami - 599.862
  5. Sega - 497.269
  6. Level 5 - 468.311
  7. Capcom - 309.596
  8. Koei Tecmo - 295.751
  9. EA - 269.759
  10. Marvelous - 257.874
  11. Ubisoft - 213.453
  12. Imagineer - 122.467
  13. Nippon Columbia - 84.957

  • Konami's eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 is the only title to see big growth since the last update
  • Momotaro Dentetsu has not exited the Top 10 on Amazon since it's reveal, good chance that Konami surpasses 1.2M by the end of 2020
  • The next major 3rd Party title to release is Bandai Namco's Captain Tsubasa, this one will likely have around 50K opening but based on Taiko and Fishing Spirits' performance, I would position it as the big sleeper hit of the summer. 
  • Atlus is the other company that should finally make the list this year due to SMT III
  • Koei Tecmo had another mediocre release, this time Gust's Fairy Tail, their chances for a hit are Atelier Ryza 2 which I hope could sell at least 100K
  • Marvelous is very likely to move above Koei, Capcom & EA by the end of the year due to Rune Factory 5(as long is doesn't get delayed), Sakuna is more of an unknown perhaps it might also do well in Japan and make the Top 30

By the end of the year we can expect that all titles in the Top 30 would need to sell at least 100K to make it there. It's extremely likely that Momotaro becomes the second best-selling 3rd Party Game on the Switch by the end of 2020. Captain Tsubasa is the title that could push Bandai beyond 2M. Microsoft remains unchallenged at the top. Square still hasn't dated Bravely Default 2, which would be their biggest title on the Switch for 2020. Sega, Level 5, Capcom will continue to stagnate positions in the chart since they have nothing major announced, while Nippon is extremely likely to exit the chart by the end of the quarter. If Fifa does decently EA will have sold more physical software than Capcom on the system by the end of the year - an unprecedented partnership indeed. 

Still announced support is much better for the rest of the year compared to 2019, but there is still time for games to be delayed so until we have dates - it's too early to say if 3rd Parties will be able to really expand their audience on the Switch these holidays. If Bravely Default 2, Rune Factory 5, Atelier Ryza 2, Momotaro Dentetsu, SMT III all are launched in time for the holidays I do expect them to do very well for their publishers.

Since the last update, there haven't been that many titles revealed and there is very little time to reveal anything major for the end of the year. The big losers this holiday are shaping up to be Capcom, Level 5 and Sega - so if anything - I'd be expecting "something" more from them. But I'm not holding my breath :) 

Also very relevant post regarding 3rd Party strategy by Chris on resetera:

"Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2016 (PS4/PS3/PSV) shipped 500.000 at 24 August 2016, 4 months after release (28 April 2016).
For Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2018 (PS4/PSV - 26 April 2018 release) there wasn't official announcement for when the milestone was passed, Playstation Awards 2018 had is half million seller in Asia.
eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 (PS4/NSW) shipped 500.000 at 7 August 2020, 1 month after release (9 July 2020)."

Konami shows how to published games on Switch. Crazy days. 



curl-6 on 07 August 2020

So even if you take away their biggest game, Dragon Quest 11 S, Square would still be the #4 publisher in Japan in terms of third party sales on Switch.

Last edited by curl-6 - on 07 August 2020

Farsala on 07 August 2020
curl-6 said:

So even if you take away their biggest game, Dragon Quest 11 S, Square would still be the #4 publisher in Japan in terms of third party sales on Switch.

I think the funny part is EA at #9, despite what most fans say about that company... Top western company besides Minecraft.



PAOerfulone on 07 August 2020

Obon Week.



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noshten on 08 August 2020
Farsala said:
curl-6 said:

So even if you take away their biggest game, Dragon Quest 11 S, Square would still be the #4 publisher in Japan in terms of third party sales on Switch.

I think the funny part is EA at #9, despite what most fans say about that company... Top western company besides Minecraft.

Just goes to show that despite everything football is still huge and Pro Evolution Soccer could be a big game on the Switch if Konami releases it next year.

Next year Konami could very well be the first Japanese 3rd Party to have a million-seller in Japan on the Switch. Momotaro Dentetsu sales in Japan are going to be huge this holiday, I don't doubt this will be the top-selling game in the franchise. It's months before the release and the game is still in the Top 5 at Amazon, there is also a 2nd version of the game at #77. And this is supposably a casual game that doesn't do the most pre-orders as the majority of people buying it do so at launch. Much like Super Mario Party, it will eventually get to 1M most likely at some point next year. 

Square's support on the Switch has always been good, they've been moving DQ audience there from very early on. They launched the second-most games from a Japanese 3rd Party behind Bandai Namco. With at least 8 games that have surpassed 50K physical sales. The main issue with Square has been supplied for their games, JRPGs are notoriously front-loaded and every time Square launches a JRPG on the Switch not named DQ they seem to underestimate demand. Octopath could have sold >250K physical if it wasn't impossible to find, Trials of Mana could have been around 150K, with the second-hand market they have surely missed some sales because of their approach. It will be interesting if they learned a lesson with Bravely Default 2. 

Bandai will have Pro Baseball Famista 2020 & Captain Tsubasa this year, coupled with a late port of Jump Force, people might complain about certain games missing the Switch but it's a matter of time before their entire pipeline is there. Bandai simply doesn't have much of a choice since the majority of the anime games they work on need to be on the device dominating the Japanese Videogame market. This year Switch has 87.47% of the hardware market... this won't change much with the PS5 launch. As outlined before even during the peak of Wii/DS Nintendo only had 66.7%:

  • 2016: 47.1%
  • 2017: 69.8%
  • 2018: 67.4%
  • 2019: 79.1%
  • 2020: 87.47%

Simply put the current situation is unprecedented and companies who haven't build up a good audience and brand awareness on the Switch are going to struggle to sell their games in Japan. 



curl-6 on 08 August 2020

Yeah the kind of marketshare dominance Nintendo is building in Japan with the Switch is going to force devs who rely on Japan for sales to support them or face irrelevance. 



think-man on 08 August 2020

Ghost of tsushima is doing great, should be close to 500k with digital. Probably should hit around 700k Ltd.



 

How to Make friends In Dark Souls 3

noshten on 08 August 2020

Seems this is the step Sony is undertaking to continue it's growth strategy:

TOKYO – Sony will leverage the combined strength of the group companies to expand its animation business overseas, making it the fourth pillar of its entertainment portfolio after music, movies and games.

“Our group is keen to help bring Japanese cartoons to fans around the world,” Sony Chairman Kenichiro Yoshida said at a strategy meeting on May 19., describing animation as a “company that embodies the ‘One Sony’ concept”.

With Demon Slayer being a key game in their arsenal

Sony is betting on “Demon Slayer” for even more success. Aniplex President, Atsuhiro Iwakami, wants to make the series a centerpiece of Aniplex’s prowess. It’s already made the manga into a blockbuster anime, and will now follow with a movie version hitting theaters this summer. Sony’s units will also turn the anime into games for mobile and PlayStation 4, with the ability to promote it overseas.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Me...out-to-conquer-entertainment-world-with-anime

So I guess certain anime games will be heavily invested in by Sony. This is from my perspective a great diversification on their part since their Anime IPs are going to see growth in the coming years in the West. It won't affect Japan that much judging from the PS4, since they had the vast majority of big anime games exclusive to the system until very recently. At the end of the day if you are releasing an anime game that's more appealing in Japan than in the West you are losing money by making it exclusive. While there are competitors in Japan who would probably now start to favor Nintendo for their anime adaptation. This will be very interesting to follow but I don't see how this is not a good thing for Sony. Aniplex just needs to keep control of this fourth pillar and I can see it paying off very quickly for them. 

So the PS5 gen will be the gen of a lot of AAA Anime Games. I can see them revealing some big ones for 2022. I also bet a lot of that work is outsourced to the likes of Sega, Koei Tecmo, Capcom, From etc. We might be entering a very exciting time for anyone who loves Japanese culture. Imagine Creative Assembly being given a big IP to work on by Sega.  

So overall it could at least ensure PS5 outperforms PSV in Japan but the bigger picture is World Wide. Japanese manga, anime and other items are becoming increasingly popular everywhere and Sony is seriously investing in this space. 

Nintendo should definitely do the same and diversify into animation and serialization. It's the one area where I would personally focus on and probably the only way to make Metroid popular in Japan lol

Last edited by noshten - on 08 August 2020

Kai_Mao on 08 August 2020
noshten said:
Farsala said:

I think the funny part is EA at #9, despite what most fans say about that company... Top western company besides Minecraft.

Just goes to show that despite everything football is still huge and Pro Evolution Soccer could be a big game on the Switch if Konami releases it next year.

Next year Konami could very well be the first Japanese 3rd Party to have a million-seller in Japan on the Switch. Momotaro Dentetsu sales in Japan are going to be huge this holiday, I don't doubt this will be the top-selling game in the franchise. It's months before the release and the game is still in the Top 5 at Amazon, there is also a 2nd version of the game at #77. And this is supposably a casual game that doesn't do the most pre-orders as the majority of people buying it do so at launch. Much like Super Mario Party, it will eventually get to 1M most likely at some point next year. 

Square's support on the Switch has always been good, they've been moving DQ audience there from very early on. They launched the second-most games from a Japanese 3rd Party behind Bandai Namco. With at least 8 games that have surpassed 50K physical sales. The main issue with Square has been supplied for their games, JRPGs are notoriously front-loaded and every time Square launches a JRPG on the Switch not named DQ they seem to underestimate demand. Octopath could have sold >250K physical if it wasn't impossible to find, Trials of Mana could have been around 150K, with the second-hand market they have surely missed some sales because of their approach. It will be interesting if they learned a lesson with Bravely Default 2. 

Bandai will have Pro Baseball Famista 2020 & Captain Tsubasa this year, coupled with a late port of Jump Force, people might complain about certain games missing the Switch but it's a matter of time before their entire pipeline is there. Bandai simply doesn't have much of a choice since the majority of the anime games they work on need to be on the device dominating the Japanese Videogame market. This year Switch has 87.47% of the hardware market... this won't change much with the PS5 launch. As outlined before even during the peak of Wii/DS Nintendo only had 66.7%:

  • 2016: 47.1%
  • 2017: 69.8%
  • 2018: 67.4%
  • 2019: 79.1%
  • 2020: 87.47%

Simply put the current situation is unprecedented and companies who haven't build up a good audience and brand awareness on the Switch are going to struggle to sell their games in Japan. 

At this point, I don't see much of the 3rd party support changing much, or at least for the better.

Atelier Ryza 2, SMT 3HD, SMT 5, NMH3, Bayonetta 3, Captain Tsubasa, Yokai Watch Y, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, and Bravely Default II appear to be some of the few games that are either:

- exclusive

- multiplats selling on the same day as other consoles

Square Enix does not seem interested in releasing any game from Nier on Switch and there appears to be rumors of the next Dragon Quest not coming to Switch.

Bandai Namco does not appear interested in release Soul Calibur VI, Tales of Arise, or any other high-profile game on Switch.

Capcom...we can count all of their new, original games on Switch with one hand at this point. Even have to kindly ask for more Street Fighter games, which leads me to believe the Switch will likely not get any of the upcoming fighting games. When SNK released more new fighting games (SNK Heroines and Samurai Shodown) on Switch compared to Capcom (USFII?), then you know something is off.

Sega..nothing new apparently is coming on Switch as of now outside of the SMT games. I wouldn't even be surprised after all the talk with Atlus after Persona 4 Golden's success on Steam that the Switch will get anything Persona outside of Persona 5 Scramble.

And I think I'm being reasonable with the games I'm expecting. I'm not expecting FFVIIR or RE2R. But if something like Astral Chain and Dragon Quest XI S can look and run great on Switch and succeed, then I have to wonder if anyone from these companies are seeing the sales success of the Switch.