Mario Kart World Tops Japanese Boxed Charts as Switch 2 Breaks Past 1.5 Million Sales

Nintendo continues its impressive dominance in the Japanese gaming market, as the latest Famitsu report reveals that Mario Kart World has once again secured the top spot in the weekly boxed software charts.

For the sales period from June 30th to July 6th, 2024, Mario Kart World on Nintendo Switch 2 achieved a remarkable 114,106 units sold, pushing its cumulative sales close to 1.3 million units since launch.

This ongoing success underscores the enduring popularity of Nintendo’s premier racing franchise among Japanese gamers and further cements Mario Kart's legacy on new-generation hardware. Following closely, Tamagotchi Plaza continues to captivate audiences across both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 platforms.

The original Switch version posted sales of 24,173 units for the week, reaching 126,462 overall, while the Switch 2 edition added another 6,204 units, contributing to a total of 32,600 units.

Despite mixed critical reception, the Tamagotchi brand’s resonance in Japan is clear through its persistent chart presence. Meanwhile, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe demonstrates rare staying power, re-entering the upper echelon of the charts at number four, with an additional 7,441 units sold, taking its lifetime sales to a staggering 6,366,260 copies on Nintendo Switch.

Super Mario Party Jamboree (6,307 units), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (5,915 units; lifetime: 8,160,492), and Minecraft (5,480 units; lifetime: 3,928,867) continue to showcase the enduring appeal of Nintendo’s and Mojang’s evergreen titles. Other notable inclusions in the top ten are Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for PlayStation 5, and role-playing games Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, emphasizing the diversity in Japanese gaming preferences. On the hardware front, Switch 2’s momentum remains relentless, selling an impressive 128,643 units for the week and surpassing the 1.5 million mark in cumulative sales (specifically, 1,530,826).

The original Nintendo Switch maintains a steady user base, with 3,349 units sold, while the Switch OLED and Switch Lite variants continue to reinforce Nintendo’s widespread hardware ecosystem at 8,249 and 6,114 units respectively.

The PlayStation 5 lineup, including its Pro and Digital editions, cumulatively moved 8,629 units, and Xbox Series consoles remain niche with 529 total unit sales. This latest batch of Japanese sales data reaffirms Nintendo’s commanding position at the top of the domestic market.

Titles like Mario Kart World and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, coupled with the massive uptake of Switch 2 hardware, highlight the persistent strength and cultural impact of Nintendo’s software lineup in Japan.

As developers continue to leverage the brand’s popularity and the versatile Switch ecosystem, Nintendo shows no sign of losing its foothold in the Japanese gaming scene.

Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart Nintendo Switch Mario Kart World Nintendo Mario Switch 2 Switch Kart Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tamagotchi Plaza PlayStation 5 Minecraft Animal Crossing New Horizons Fantasy Life i Rune Factory Guardians of Azuma PlayStation 5 Pro PlayStation 5 Digital Edition Xbox Series S Xbox Series X PlayStation 4