Pikmin 4 tops Japan sales charts, dethroning Tears of the Kingdom

After a decade-long hiatus, we finally have a new mainline Pikmin mainline entry in our hands. The adorable plant creatures are back, and this time they are joined by Oatchi the lovable rescue pup. Though the series has struggled a bit in the past, Pikmin 4 has made quite a splash since its launch, managing to reach the top of the Japan sales charts.

Pikmin 4 has a successful launch

As revealed by Gemastu, Pikmin 4 has sold 401,853 physical copies in its first week. This strong opening surpasses the first-week sales of all three prior games combined. Nintendo has been doing a great job of keeping players Pikmin-crazy all year, as the Pikmin 1+2 bundle was made available on the Switch in June.

With Pikmin 4 at the number one spot, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom slides to second place on the Japan sales charts after several weeks at the top. Despite this, Link’s latest adventure still manages to sell exceedingly well, with 15,616 physical copies sold in Japan between July 17 and 23. This brings up the lifetime physical sales in Japan to 1,775,035.

For context, you can find the complete list below. Lifetime sales in brackets if applicable:

1: Pikmin 4 (Switch) – 401,853
2: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) – 15,616 (1,775,035)
3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) – 10,749 (5,385,022)
4. Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening (Switch) – 10,633
5. Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening (PS4) – 10,434
6. Minecraft (Switch) – 7,512 (3,200,000)
7. Splatoon 3 (Switch) – 6,337 (4,066,350)
8. Nintendo Switch Sports (Switch) – 5,784 (1,131,645)
9. Final Fantasy 16 (PS5) – 4,904 (401,376)
10. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) – 4,844 (5,239,500)

As usual, the Nintendo Switch dominates the sales charts. Though some are eager for a successor to the handheld, the charts illustrate that players are still getting plenty of life out of it.

Smangaliso Simelane

Freelance Writer – Smangaliso Simelane is a writer with a passion for all things related to video games. He has been writing about video games since 2020.

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