Sonic Frontiers becomes the best selling 3D Sonic game racing to 3.5 million units sold

While Sonic Frontiers isn’t the most perfect game ever made (check out our review), it is a huge step in the right direction for the franchise and it seems that Sonic fans have agreed as it becomes the best selling 3D Sonic game. SEGA confirmed the sales figures during their SEGA x Rovio press conference (16:40 in), marking the title as a huge success.

That means that the title sold 300,000 units from April, in just a month. That would mean that Sonic Frontiers has long lasting legs and that probably has to do to the free roadmap that Sonic Team has released. For example Sonic Generations sold 3 million units and it still seems Sonic Frontiers can easily break the 4 million sold marker by this fall!

Are you surprised at the success of Sonic Frontiers?

[Via: Sonic Stadium]

Sonic Frontiers dashes to number 4 spot in UK Game Charts and number 3 on Steam Charts

 

Sonic Frontiers made a strong start to life in the charts, boosting a number 4 spot in the UK Game Charts and sold 5% more than 2017’s release Sonic Forces. While this might not seem a large increase this does not include digital sales so Frontiers’ actual increase over Forces could be quite significant yet. We know more than half of UK game sales are now digital. What was more interesting was the platform break down, while Sonic Forces enjoyed strong sales on the Nintendo Switch, this time the best selling platform for the franchise was as follows; Playstation 5 (40%) Switch (34%) Xbox (14%) and Playstation 4 (12%) But it wasn’t just the UK where Sonic Frontiers is enjoying a successful start to it’s sale life, hit the break to read more how it’s fairing on Steam!

Yakuza 7 launch day numbers weakest in main series, 20% drop from Yakuza 6

Yakuza 7 (Yakuza: Like a Dragon in America) is changing a lot of things that were considered bread and butter for the franchise. This includes a new lead character and a change from real time action to turn base combat. Unsurprisingly this has lead to a drop in launch sales. Does this mean that this whole new direction has been a failure? Not really, it will depend on how the game sales overtime and we still have to launch it outside of Japan. Who knows, in the West, this being a soft reboot might help it.

 

Check out the tweet by Game Data Library on Twitter for a sales chart:

Persona 5 Royal debuts in first place in Japan, beats out Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Mario & Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

It looks like its a big month for SEGA and Atlus in Japan since they released both Persona 5 Royal and Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games come out the same week. Surprisingly enough, Persona 5 Royal (201,448 units sold) did so well that it beat Nintendo’s Luigi’s Mansion 3 (150,649 units) by over 50k units.

I think its surprising because Persona 5 Royal is a ‘complete’ version of Persona 5 which launched with 264,793 units on PS4 (72,974 units on PS3). Sure, Persona 5 Royal sold less than the original but its still selling better than the last ‘highest selling Persona game’ before Persona 5, Persona 4 Golden which launched with 137,076 units. This shows you that re-releasing acclaimed games with more content isn’t a bad strategy and it seems Atlus fans come out and purchase these new versions.

Nintendo fans might think its disappointing to see Luigi’s Mansion 3 on Nintendo Switch not make it at number one, but this entry is the highest selling entry in Japan with 150,649 units compared to Luigi’s Manson: Dark Moon which launched with 110,840 units in 2013.

But what about Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?

SEGA’s Judgment debuts third on the Japanese sale charts

SEGA’s Judge Eyes (Judgment in America) came out in Japan this month and now we have the games first weeks sales. The game came in third place on the chart behind Super Smash Bros Ultimate (still on top) and the newly released God Eater 3. While both these established franchise got the two top spots, Judgment did pretty well for a new IP selling 148,773 units in just three days. For example God Eater 3 sold 150,523, so SEGA was just 2,000 sales away from topping a well established Japanese brand. Judgment will hit English speaking countries, with a English dub, this summer.

Hit the jump to see the full media create sales charts starting on 12/10/18 through 12/16/18:

Japanese PlayStation Awards certify Persona 5 as a million plus seller, Yakuza: Kiwami 2 wins ‘Users Choice Award’


The Japanese only PlayStation Awards have announced all the winners, a few included SEGA made/owned IPs like Persona 5 and Yakuza: Kiwami 2. Persona 5 was one of the only two recently released titles in Japan to sell over a million copies earning it the Platinum Prize. To get this award you have to ship over a million units, which could include digital sales. The only other game to get the Platinum Prize was The Last of Use Remastered! On the other hand Monster Hunter: World got the ‘Quadruple Platinum Prize’ which means it sold over 4 million units! That’s Japan and Asia only, which is freaking insane.

To show you how big this is for the Persona franchise, we found out that God of War, Gran Turismo Sport, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Call of Duty: WWII all managed to get the Gold Prize, which means they sold just over 500,000 units (under a million of course). Those are all big titles. As for Yakuza: Kiwami 2, it was part of the top ten titles voted by Japan and Asian users (games released from October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018). My only issue is that games that didn’t come out in this time period (Assassin’s Creed Odyssey) got into the top ten user voted list. You can check out all the awards given over at Gematsu.

Shenmue I & II releases in Japan, selling over 30k units its debut week

If you guys didn’t know, we actually got Shenmue I & II early in the West. Some folks say we got it early to bug test it for its Japanese release, who knows. What we do know is that Shenmue I & II hit Japanese store shelves on November 22, 2018 and charted number for on the Japanese Media Create charts. The top spot was given to Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee! (which seems to track both games as one) but the impressive debut this week came from EA’s Battlefield V which garnered 110,653 sales in its debut week, really making Shenmue I & II’s 37,529 units seem rather weak. But at the end of the day, Shenmue I & II is a port and Battlefield V is a brand new game, so comparing them sales wise is useless.

You can check the full media create chart on Gematsu or after the break:

Yakuza 6 records biggest series launch in US sales history

For the first time in the series’ history, a Yakuza game has made the top 20 of NPD at position 17th! Beating out Sea of Thieves, Kirby and FIFA, the title was also the month’s 4th best selling Playstation 4 game (In a month which saw the PS4 record the best April sales for a leading console since 2009) and must now cement its place as the series most successful Western release. It’s funny how not only strong this series has become but a jump from Kiwami 1 to 6 has had no negative effects on the series sales potential which has been on an upward trend since 2015’s release of Yakuza 5. Numbers are yet to be published but if we ever see them in the wild we’ll be sure to share them with you but for now it’s certain that Kazuma Kiryu’s final outing as the main protagonist of the series is the most successful Western release yet.

Persona 5 has shipped over 2.2 million units world wide

Atlus/SEGA have put out their latest financial reports stating that they have shipped more than 2 million units of their highly acclaimed JRPG Persona 5 world wide. If you didn’t know, the game has been a massive success for Atlus/SEGA, selling more than five times that of Persona 4 in the USA. We also know this November the game broke its 2 million milestone, meaning that since November 2017 the game has shipped an additional 200,000 units.

The way that Atlus seems to do their Persona titles, don’t be shocked if they announce a re-release with extra content on it and manage to outsell this version of the game. Maybe Persona 5: Crimson on Switch? Regardless, its most likely going to happen. If SEGA and Atlus really wanted to sell a ton, they would make the re-release available on all major platforms.

[Source: Gematsu]

Puyo Puyo Tetris Switch has sold almost a million units

dracopuyo

It looks like Puyo Puyo Tetris is one of Sega’s biggest success stories of last year! Mizuki Hosoyamada of SEGA revealed on the Puyo Puyo Anniversary TV Show 2018 that the Nintendo Switch version of Puyo Puyo Tetris S will soon surpass over a million units worldwide, no doubt that when you combine the other versions of the game (Which also include but not limited to Xbox One, Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita) it’s already a million seller but to see one platform do so fantastically for the game must be a great source of joy for Sega. Hopefully with this news means that future Puyo releases are a lock for localisation, perhaps it might even be a good idea to try and come up with a way to port Puyo Puyo Chronicle onto the Switch? Either way, great news for Puyo fans!

Phantasy Star Online 2 celebrates 1.5 million downloads on PlayStation Vita

PSO2Vita3

SEGA has announced a Phantasy Star Online 2 milestone for the PlayStation Vita version of the game, amassing over 1.5 million downloads since the game debuted on the handheld in February 2013.  I assume these also counted the physical print version of the game that have been printed in the past.

To celebrate the milestone, Phantasy Star Online 2 will have a commemoration campaign later this month. More details to be announced later. Of course Phantasy Star Online 2 has been released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC, iOS, and Android. Only in Japan. There is also Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud coming to Nintendo Switch in Q1 2018.

Like always, wish this game made it west. Oh well, you know.

[Via: Siliconera]

Persona 5 sold five times more than Persona 4 in the USA

Persona5v4salesAtlus has shown that you can turn a cult classic game into a massive world wide selling IP if you stick with the franchise and continue making quality releases each time. According to the USA game tracking company, NPD, Persona 5 sold five times more copies than Persona 4 in its debut month in the USA. Its not surprising considering that Persona 4 seems to be one of those titles that got popular due to word of mouth and became one of the best selling titles on the PlayStation Vita. While Persona 5 sold more than ever, April also saw an increase in software sales in the United States compared to last year. An increase of 6%. The reason for the sales increase are due to the massive popularity of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Persona 5 and strong second month sales of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. “The industry drove the highest April hardware dollar sales since April 2011,” said NPD group in their report. Oddly enough all top three huge selling titles are Japanese developed games.

NPD groups’ top ten selling games for April 2017:

  • Mario Kart 8
  • Persona 5
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • MLB 17: The Show
  • Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Mass Effect: Andromeda
  • NBA 2K17
  • Overwatch
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Its no surprise that Persona 5 is a massive success for Atlus and SEGA, considering all the rave reviews, fan hype and those dank memes hitting social media. Persona 5 is available now on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Persona 5 sold five times more than Persona 4, did you guys see that one coming? Did you guys pick up a copy? Time for the Persona 5 spin-offs?

Bayonetta on Steam has sold over 100k copies on its first week

26317ana110812_017According to Steam Spy, the PC version of Bayonetta has moved 114,007 units (as of writing this post) on its first week on sale. Bayonetta debuted on PC last week for the asking price of $19.99, which is quite the bargain. You also have to note, that Steam Spy gets its sell figures by counting owners of the game on public profiles and only on the Steam platform. If the game sold anywhere not using Steam or users have their profiles set to private, they won’t get counted. I would say this is a conservative estimate. The game is also been trending on Steam at #3, even a week after its release. Not bad for an eight year old port of a game. For example Yooka-Laylee, a game created as a Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor has 63,870 units sold on its first week and Gearbox’s re-release of Bulletstorm Full Clip Edition has only moved 11,335 units.

I’m pretty sure the success of Bayonetta on Steam will lead to many more SEGA PC ports and we might finally see a glorious PC port of Vanquish. You know, its long over due, right SEGA?

What SEGA PC port do you want to see hit Steam? Let us know in the comments below.

Persona 5 debuts at #1 on the UK software charts

persona 5 famitsu interview“WOW! Looking cool Joker!” 

Persona 5 is celebrating the biggest launch in the franchises history, already claiming to have shipped over 1.5 million units world wide and now its also the best selling game in the UK in the latest UK software charts. check out the top ten games sold in the UK during the week, it was stiff competition but Persona 5 pulled through.

  1. Persona 5
  2. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
  3. LEGO Worlds
  4. Grand Theft Auto V
  5. Mass Effect: Andromeda
  6. FIFA 17
  7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  8. Lego City Undercover
  9. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
  10. Overwatch

Persona 5 is the only JRPG to hit the number one spot in the UK Software Charts since 2013’s Ni no Kuni on the PlayStation 3. Even the massively hyped Final Fantasy XV didn’t hit the top spot on the UK charts, it fell short at number #2. While The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild wasn’t a JRPG, that game also only hit #2 in the UK charts thanks to the massive success of PlayStation 4’s Horizon Zero Dawn. It would seem that SEGA buying Index holdings, owner of Atlus publishing, was the right move for the company.

How long do you think Persona 5 will chart in the UK software charts? Let us know in the comments below.

[via: Siliconera]

Persona 5’s first week sales break franchise records in Japan

2858333-p3While we have to wait until February of next year to play Persona 5, the title has already launched in Japan on September 15 and we already have the first week sales. According to media create, Persona 5 sold a total of 337,767 units on the games first week of release. Breaking it down by consoles it was released on, that means it did 264, 793 units on PlayStation 4 and only 72,974 units on PlayStation 3. Which is funny, considering that Atlus said the only reason Persona 5 appeared on PlayStation 4 was because of the SEGA buyout. Very good decision.

Here are the first week sales of all the other past Persona titles:

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You can see how it stacks with the lifetime sales of the franchise over at Persona Central’s post. It will be interesting to see if Persona 5 outsells Yakuza 6, anything can happen. For example Yakuza 0 did 236,329 units the first week, while the main entry Yakuza 5 did 356,757 copies its first week (only on PlayStation 3). Do you think Yakuza 6 will do more than 337,767 units in Japan the first week? What do you think about the growing popularity of Persona series? Let us know in the comments below.

[Via Persona Central]