February was a packed month for gaming, with multiple major new games coming out and performing well on critical and commercial fronts. According to sales data occupied by Famitsu for the entire month, however, the highest-selling game of the month in Japan was a game that launched late in January.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus sold nearly 645,000 units in the region over the course of the four-week period, making this the fourth consecutive month that a Pokemon game has topped Japan’s monthly sales charts, with Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl having done the same in November and December. Given Pokemon Legends’ excellent launch in Japan, it’s no surprise to see it continuing to perform well.
In second place is Elden Ring– and in fourth place as well, with the game’s PS4 and PS5 versions both ranking high. The PS4 version was the dominant one, selling more than twice as much as the PS5 version, and collectively, the two sold roughly 279,000 units in just three days, making it the second-highest selling game in Japan in February.
Some other major new releases found a way into the top 10 as well. The PS4 version of Horizon Forbidden West took fifth place, with the PS5 version coming in at No. 8. Across both versions, the game collectively sold over 108,000 units, which would make it the region’s fourth-highest selling game of the month. Meanwhile, the PS4 version of Dying Light 2 Stay Human is also in the top 10.
On the hardware front, the Switch and PS5 both saw significant dips in sales, though the former was still the best-selling system of the month by some margin, having sold over 377,000 units compared to the nearly 66,000 units moved by the PS5. The Xbox Series X/S, meanwhile, sold over 21,000 units, which is roughly thrice as much as January’s numbers.
You can check out the full software and hardware charts below. Recently, the Japanese weekly software and hardware sales charts for the week ending March 6 were also revealed- check them out through here.
Japan’s top 10 highest-selling games in February 2022 (followed by lifetime sales as of the end of February):
01. [NSW] Pokemon Legends: Arceus – 644,892 / 2,069,549
02. [PS4] Elden Ring – 188,490 / NEW
03. [NSW] Touken Ranbu Warriors – 122,890 / NEW
04. [PS5] Elden Ring – 90,017 / NEW
05. [PS4] Horizon Forbidden West – 59,944 / NEW
06. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 55,884 / 4,456,087
07. [NSW] Mario Party Superstars – 52,817 / 886,009
08. [PS5] Horizon Forbidden West – 48,362 / NEW
09. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 43,519 / 4,783,316
10. [PS4] Dying Light 2 Stay Human – 38,602 / NEW
Japanese hardware sales in February 2022 (followed by last month’s sales):
- Nintendo Switch – 377,678 (615,437)
- PS5 – 65,772 (114,003)
- Xbox Series X/S – 21,029 (7,376)
