Sonic Forces Japanese debut sales barely surpass 10k units sold

sonicforcesjapanesesales

We all know that Sonic the Hedgehog isn’t a very strong brand in Japan, but I don’t think a lot of people know just how unpopular it is. According to this weeks Media Create Sales, Sonic Forces sold 10,624 units, counting both PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions. That’s rather low, seeing Call of Duty: WWII has a staggering second week with sales passing 60k! That’s a game based on the American viewpoint of the war Japan lost and they rather play that by a large number than Sonic Forces. That says something.

But is that a bad thing? Sonic Generations never charted in Japan when it came out in 2011. If anything Sonic Forces is selling higher in the region than expected. The Sonic brand usually makes most of its money in America and Europe, so we will have to see how it performs in those regions before we call it a bomb. You can check out the top selling software titles of the week in Japan by hitting the jump.

[Via: Gematsu]

Software Sales (followed by lifetime sales)

  1. [NSW] Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo, 10/27/17) – 73,315 (652,284)
  2. [PS4] Call of Duty: WWII (SIE, 11/03/17) – 67,044 (235,368)
  3. [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo, 07/21/17) – 23,130 (1,318,138)
  4. [PS4] Need for Speed: Payback (EA, 11/10/17) – 20,964 (New)
  5. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04,28,17) – 14,027 (802,472)
  6. [PS4] Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft, 10/27/17) – 11,051 (82,742)
  7. [PS4] ARK: Survival Evolved (Spike Chunsoft, 10/26/17) – 10,253 (103,800)
  8. [3DS] Style Savvy: Styling Star (Nintendo, 11/03/17) – 9,650 (41,826)
  9. [PS4] .hack//G.U. Last Recode (Limited Edition Included) (Bandai Namco, 11/02/17) – 6,659 (68,475)
  10. [PS4] Sonic Forces (Sega, 11/09/17) – 5,938 (New)
  11. [PS4] Occultic;Nine (5pb., 11/09/17) – 5,846 (New)
  12. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Limited Edition Included) (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 5,498 (634,850)
  13. [PS4] Gran Turismo Sport (Limited Edition Included) (SIE, 10/19/17) – 5,439 (182,440)
  14. [NSW] Sonic Forces (Sega, 11/09/17) – 4,686 (New)
  15. [PSV] Occultic;Nine (5pb., 11/09/17) – 4,595 (New)
  16. [PS4] DJMAX Respect (Limited Edition Included) (Arc System Works, 11/09/17) – 4,376 (New)
  17. [PS4] Taiko Drum Master: Drum Session (Bundle Edition Included) (Bandai Namco, 10/26/17) – 4,002 (39,925)
  18. [NSW] Pokken Tournament DX (Nintendo, 09/22/17) – 3,862 (115,691)
  19. [3DS] Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux (Limited Edition Included) (Atlus, 10/26/17) – 3,533 (74,180)
  20. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf Amiibo+ (Nintendo, 11/23/16) – 3,085 (267,322)

Hardware Sales (followed by last week’s sales)

  1. Switch – 79,958 (64,387)
  2. PlayStation 4 – 20,021 (21,830)
  3. New 2DS LL – 10,323 (11,116)
  4. New 3DS LL – 7,296 (7,914)
  5. PlayStation 4 Pro – 6,037 (6,993)
  6. PlayStation Vita – 3,210 (3,576)
  7. 2DS – 1,484 (1,539)
  8. Xbox One X – 1,344 (New)
  9. New 3DS – 266 (287)
  10. Xbox One – 121 (114)
  11. PlayStation 3 – 41 (56)
  12. Wii U – 36 (38)
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5 responses to “Sonic Forces Japanese debut sales barely surpass 10k units sold

  1. Hitrax says:

    I Wonder How Sonic Would Have Faired in Japan Had He Retained His Original Asian Design before he was softened up by an American team led by Madeline Schroeder for American audiences.

    Naoto Ohshima designed Sonic as a man, part of how he originally had a love interest girlfriend – Madonna to illustrate his more mature mind, so he was surprised to see how some people (Americans) thought of him more like a cute little kid, but he always saw him as a mature character and a man.

    Yuji Naka initially hated the Americanized Sonic look over the original Japanese (and European) look, he came to accept it later though when he thought of the value and success of a world wide global reception for Sonic.

    Still, he is the main Sega company mascot, and the fact that he can’t match Nintendo company mascot Mario in the home territory is shocking, mind you though, this was a surprise to many, COD: WWII even outselling Mario Oddessey is a big thing, especially there as Mario is normally always quite successful in Japan.

  2. Hitrax says:

    *Watch this for more on the making of Sonic – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hY740NlQLmA – that’s a great documentary by the way, probably the greatest one on Sonic made yet, imho.

    Again how Sonic’s influences changed are covered, especially by the team from the American arm led by Madeline Schroeder and Tom Kalinske – who believed he was too edgy and dark and wanted him to be as appealing to American children as well, like Ninteno had been successful at doing with Mario in America.

  3. herbir says:

    The game is horrible period

    • Eck says:

      How is it? Horrible as a Sonic game maybe? Because for a Sonic game, the quality should be very high.
      But as a game on it’s own merits, it’s not too bad and above average, just all right.

  4. Defender says:

    The sales figures for Japanese titles are famously inaccurate. Don’t put too much stock in these lists.

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