A list of the top 100 best-selling video games for the year of 2022 was published in the February 16th 2023 issue of Weekly Famitsu.
The number of sales is tallied from 27 Dec 2021 to 25 Dec 2022. Games released prior to period also have their lifetime sales listed.
Multi-platform games have each version tallied separately. Re-releases with different prices such as DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age (New Price) and different versions of games such as Monster Hunter Rise with and without the Sunbreak DLC are also listed separately from other versions. Digital sales are not tallied, but download cards sold in stores are tallied.
Also see: Top 100 best-selling games in Japan, 2021
Japan’s top 100 best-selling games of 2022
- Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (Switch) – 4,338,931
- Splatoon 3 (Switch) – 3,687,814
- Pokemon Legends: Arceus (Switch) – 2,314,806
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) – 969,047
- Nintendo Switch Sports (Switch) – 887,722
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) – 742,018 in 2022 (lifetime sales total 5,014,375)
- Minecraft (Switch) – 548,415 (total 2,960,006)
- Mario Party Superstars (Switch) – 485,594 (total 1,114,132)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) – 441,053 (total 5,065,191)
- Elden Ring (PS4) – 356,711
- Ring Fit Adventure (Switch) – 327,193 (total 3,318,883)
- Animal Crossing New Horizons (Switch) – 311,967 (total 7,394,204)
- Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Switch) – 293,828 (total 2,606,943)
- Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak Set (Switch) – 293,473
- Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa Heisei Reiwa mo Teiban! (Switch) – 283,433 (total 2,782,933)
- Dragon Quest X Offline (Switch) – 252,028
- eBASEBALL Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2022 (Switch) – 247,866
- Gran Turismo 7 (PS5) – 218,013
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) – 205,127 (total 2,114,201)
- Dragon Quest Treasures (Switch) – 198,403
- Sekai no Asobi Taizen 51 (Switch) – 183,105 (total 1,054,887)
- Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles (Switch) – 178,877
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Switch) – 178,270
- Touken Ranbu Warriors (Switch) – 146,087
- Yawaraka Atama-juku: Issho ni Atama no Stretch (Switch) – 145,996 (total 301,019)
- Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Switch) – 145,507
- Elden Ring (PS5) – 141,741
- Triangle Strategy (Switch) – 137,514
- Gran Turismo 7 (PS4) – 136,388
- Super Mario 3D World + Fury World (Switch) – 136,215 (total 4,128,165)
- Splatoon 2 (Switch) – 134,760 (total 4,128,165)
- Horizon Forbidden West (PS5) – 132,712
- Live A Live (Switch) – 132,083
- Pokémon Sword and Shield (Switch) – 127,744 (total 4,390,182)
- Taiko no Tatsujin: Dondaful Festival (Switch) – 115,251
- Earth Defence Force 6 (PS4) – 107,786
- eBASEBALL Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2022 (PS4) – 107,222
- Mario Strikers: Battle League (Switch) – 96,299
- Human Fall Flat (Switch) – 95,754 (total 309,567)
- Monster Hunter Rise Best Price (Switch) – 92,136 (total 98,159)
- Horizon Forbidden West (PS4) – 90,836
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Switch) – 90,710 (total 1,220,439)
- Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) – 90,098 (total 1,264,959)
- Super Mario Party (Switch) – 83,572 (total 2,119,958)
- Dragon Quest X Offline (PS4) – 81,676
- Tsuri Spirits: Tsutte Asoberu Suizokukan (Switch) – 80,024
- Persona 5 Royale (Switch) – 79,683
- Super Mario Odyssey (Switch) – 79,324 (total 2,380,819)
- The Battle Cats Unite! (Switch) – 78,807 (total 180,805)
- DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age (New Price) (Switch) – 72,258 (total 241,944)
- Kirby Star Allies (Switch) – 74,572 (total 1,022,772)
- Taiko no Tatsujin: Nintendo Switch Version! (Switch) – 72,501 (total 743,357)
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Switch) – 71,900
- Fifa 23 Legacy Edition (Switch) – 64,465
- Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion (PS4) – 62,346
- Bayonetta 3 (Switch) – 61,683
- Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Switch) – 61,410 (total 876,727)
- Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion (PS5) – 61,400
- Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion (Switch) – 61,133
- Minecraft Dungeons Ultimate Edition (Switch) – 59,800 (total 226,257)
- Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm and Exercise (Switch) – 58,543 (total 226,257)
- NieR Automata: The End of YoRHa Edition (Switch) – 57,655
- SD Gundam Battle Alliance (Switch) – 57,492
- Tactics Ogre Reborn (Switch) – 55,082
- Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (PS4) – 53,557
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot + A New Power Awakens Set (Switch) – 51,911 (total 143,965)
- Sonic Frontier (Switch) – 51,758
- Super Bomberman R Smile Price Collection (Switch) – 50,894 (total 235,539)
- Disney Magic Castle My Happy Life 2: Enchanted Edition (Switch) – 50,718 (total 87,070)
- Tsuri Spirits: Nintendo Switch Version (Switch) – 49,810 (total 707,508)
- God of War Ragnarok (PS5) – 49,648
- Fifa 22 Legacy Edition (Switch) – 49,025 (total 100,789)
- 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim (Switch) – 48,081
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (PS4) – 47,610
- Nobunaga no Yabou: Shinsei (Switch) – 46,766
- Soul Hackers 2 (PS4) – 46,725
- Fifa 23 (PS4) – 46,483
- Dying Light 2: Stay Human (PS4) – 46,346
- Taikou Risshiden V DX (Switch) – 44,532
- Eiyuu Densetsu: Kuro no Kiseki II -CRIMSON SiN- (PS4) – 43,900
- Harvestella (Switch) – 43,861
- Witch on the Holy Night (Switch) – 43,223
- Fortnite Minty Legends Pack (Switch) – 43,015 (total 90,815)
- New Pokémon Snap (Switch) – 42,877 (total 355,808)
- Pawapuro-kun Pocket R (Switch) – 42,350 (total 81,733)
- Dragon Quest X Offline (PS5) – 41,579
- Valkyrie Elysium (PS4) – 41,573
- Nobunaga no Yabou: Shinsei (PS4) – 41,179
- Pikmin 3 Deluxe (Switch) – 40,744 (total 642,696)
- One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 – 40,050 (total 187,585)
- Ultra Kaiju Monster Farm (Switch) – 39,483
- Navi-tsuki! Tsukutte Wakaru Hajimete Game Programming (Switch) – 39,474 (total 313,695)
- Digimon Survive (Switch) – 38,889
- Star Ocean: The Divine Force (PS4) – 37,730
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (Switch) – 37,247 (total 174,050)
- Earth Defence Force 6 (PS5) – 36,985
- Undertale (Switch) 35,493 (total 93,337)
- eBASEBALL Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2021 Grand Slam (Switch) – 35,293 (total 259,126)
- Miitopia (Switch) – 34,318 (total 309,230)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch) – 33,871 (total 303,578)
Additionally, the magazine also tallied console sales for the year of 2022.
Japanese game console sales for 2022
- Nintendo Switch OLED model – 2,799,884 (lifetime total 3,572,012)
- Playstation 5 – 1,030,819 (total 2,059,945)
- Nintendo Switch – 1,311,752 (total 19,048,341)
- Nintendo Switch Lite – 692,910 (total 5,103,694)
- Playstation 5 Digital Edition – 123,235 (total 317,444)
- Xbox Series S – 170,617 (total 225,984)
- Xbox Series X – 99,120 (total 172,411)
- Playstation 4 – 22,823 (total 7,842,044)
- New Nintendo 2DS XL – 10,449 (total 1,189,711)
Things to take away from the rankings
The sales chart was dominated by the Nintendo Switch, which takes up 77 of the 100 slots for games.
Most multi-platform games available on both the PS4 and Switch sell better on the Switch, with the sole and thus notable exception being Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion
Seven PS5 games made it on to the list, more than doubling the platform’s presence from the three in 2021’s sales ranking.
No Xbox games made it on to the list at all: In addition to a small install base, many game stores in Japan do not carry Xbox games, and the majority of Japan’s Xbox install base owns Series S consoles, and digital purchases (and Game Pass games) are not tallied in this ranking. In stark contrast to this, the digital-only version of the Playstation 5 sold significantly less copies than the regular version, showing that Japanese gamers at the very least prefer to have games on disc as an option.
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