Grand Theft Auto 5 trumps expectations and performs very well in Japan, as reflected in this week’s Media Create charts. This is in spite of the continued dominance of Pokemon X and Y and Monster Hunter 4. More units were sold of these top three than the total of the other titles in the top 20.
Pokemon X and Y sales have calmed down after the initial storm, this week selling 473,151 units, while Monster Hunter sells another 104,394 units. This also means Pokemon hasn’t caught up to MonHun’s lifetime sales yet, but they are very close, with Pokemon and 2,339,721 units, and MonHun at 2,757,217 units.
The big story here, however, is the continued positive reception for Grand Theft Auto 5. If the press had to question why GTA wasn’t popular in the country in 2008, that is no longer the case as last week’s debut was the biggest the franchise had in Japan. This week, the Playstation 3 version sold another 88,219 units, placing lifetime sales at 448,334 units.
Japan is still hesitant to embrace Western games, so for a title to manage to cling to the Top 3 like Grand Theft Auto is also an achievement in itself. In fact, this week saw the debut of FIFA 14 and Beyond Two Souls. While PS3 FIFA sold 26,170 units, Beyond Two Souls managed to sell 22,481 units. They take spots in the Top 10 at 6 and 7, respectively, but truthfully, those are only average numbers, demonstrating Japan’s continued hesitation at getting Western games.
On the hardware end, 3DS sells another 154,578 units, and Vita follows with sales of 25, 763 units. Both experience dips from last week, perhaps reflecting a brief respite before the huge holiday blowout that is sure to come.
Source: NeoGAF
