Advertisement for it was strong and the Holidays pulling up means Kirby Air Riders is likely to be amongst the Top selling Switch 2 titles for a while !
Actually, quite a surprise considering the original's sales over there.
Switch 2 sales on a constant rise is also a good omen for the following weeks
Switch Friend Code : 3905-6122-2909
...to avoid getting banned for inactivity, I may have to resort to comments that are of a lower overall quality and or beneath my moral standards.
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Otter said:
I think it would need the rest of the world to do that, but in Japan it could comfortably crack 1.5m if it legs sustain but we'll have to see |
True. Plus, Air Ride was exceptionally popular in JP compared to other Kirby games.
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TruckOSaurus said:
You gotta admire people who can somehow manage to think Nintendo is struggling while having the fastest selling console ever. |
Sounds to me like he was saying that Kirby Air Riders was struggling outside of JP… which, to an extent, is true as seen by Kirby placing outside top ten in EU(?) sales launch week.
Good sales for Air Riders, as a spinoff and a sequel to a niche Gamecube game from 20 years ago.
Switch 1 just keeps on trucking, even in the face of a massively popular successor.
Will be interesting to see where PS5's new baseline stabilizes once the holiday season is over.
Kirby Air Riders is yet another proof that Sony's problem in Japan is IP and software related, this is a pretty niche Nintendo game that has an incredible launch week in Japan, comfortably outselling AAA Sony titles instantly, on a still fairly small user base as well. That in itself shows the taste of the Japanese gaming market, its just much more in line with what Nintendo is offering there.
Just as Sony benefits from offering AAA games in Spain due to the taste of the European market, Nintendo is slated to continue to dominate Japan all because of software related reasons.
As i stated, you can't dominate everywhere, in a global market, countries in different regions will have very different taste in general when it comes to games.
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More Kirby sales data comparisons. Bigger launch than DKBananza.
It's the 6th biggest retail launch for the series as a whole, most likely 3rd, maybe 2nd with digital.
— Game Data Library (@GameDataLibrary) November 27, 2025
Third biggest launch on Nintendo Switch 2 yet. pic.twitter.com/ieKZRLXUfT
Really good week for the Switch 2 and a fantastic opening for Air Riders with it having a better start than Star Allies if you include digital. With it seemingly not doing as well elsewhere Japan will be needed to pick up some slack. The Switch 1 is starting to get a holiday boost though it's lower than the equivalent week for the 3DS in 2017 but that had Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon boosting sales so maybe it'll do better than the 3DS in December. Also nice week for the PS5 with it having its best sales since Wilds. Time will tell how much of a boost the baseline will get long term but this much cheaper model should save its holiday season this year at least.
Top 30: https://nintendoeverything.com/famitsu-software-sales-11-17-25-11-23-25-top-30/
1. [NS2] Kirby Air Riders – 195,594 / NEW
2. [NS2] Mario Kart World – 67,068 / 2,202,125
3. [NSW] Pokemon Legends: Z-A – 28,480 / 1,271,576
4. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu 2 – 28,074 / 118,780
5. [NS2] Pokemon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition – 22,060 / 798,015
6. [NS2] Momotaro Dentetsu 2 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition – 20,751 / 77,558
7. [NS2] Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment – 9,129 / 100,121
8. [NSW] Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake – 8,302 / 286,589
9. [NSW] Minecraft – 4,909 / 4,050,014
10. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 4,908 / 8,258,611
11. [NS2] Donkey Kong Bananza – 4,836 / 378,576
12. [NS2] Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake – 4,754 / 108,179
13. [NSW] R-Type Delta: HD Boosted – 3,325 / NEW
14. [NSW] Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero – 3,324 / 15,525
15. [NSW] Tetsudou Nippon Real Pro: Choukyori Unten Tokkyuu Hinotori Kinki Nippon Tetsudou Hen – 3,057 / NEW
16. [PS5] Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 – 2,899 / 15,210
17. [NSW] Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 – 2,881 / 100,714
18. [NSW] Sumikkogurashi Create a Wonderful Sumikko Island – 2,532 / NEW
19. [PS5] Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake – 2,492 / 113,664
20. [NSW] Model Debut4 #nicola – 2,351 / NEW
21. [NS2] Tamagotchi Plaza – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition – 2,337 / 68,429
22. [NSW] Super Mario Party Jamboree – 2,299 / 1,414,515
23. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 2,234 / 5,816,537
24. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 2,041 / 6,472,585
25. [NS2] Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV – 1,962 / 81,208
26. [PS5] Ghost of Yotei – 1,891 / 184,535
27. [NSW] Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2 – 1,651 / 149,785
28. [NS2] Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero – 1,635 / 8,491
29. [NSW] Pokemon Scarlet / Violet – 1,547 / 5,634,630
30. [PS5] STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl – 1,519 / NEW
NS - 16
NS2 - 10
PS5 - 4
| Sephiran said: Kirby Air Riders is yet another proof that Sony's problem in Japan is IP and software related, this is a pretty niche Nintendo game that has an incredible launch week in Japan, comfortably outselling AAA Sony titles instantly, on a still fairly small user base as well. That in itself shows the taste of the Japanese gaming market, its just much more in line with what Nintendo is offering there. |
It's a shame Astrobot didn't do better in Japan. I don't think it did bad but I think its around 70k-80k in physical sales (56k at end of 2024). It deserved a lot more. Elsewhere in US and Europe it was able to maintain top 10 status for months whereas Japan it randomly dropped out the top 30 after a few weeks top 10
Last edited by Otter - 6 days ago
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