Switch 2 Leads Japan as STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT Debuts

Aug 27, 2026

Nintendo Switch 2 continues to lead the Japanese hardware market, while STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT emerged as the biggest new release in the latest Famitsu sales charts.

Famitsu’s estimated physical sales figures for Japan covering August 17 through August 23, 2026 show Nintendo’s newest console selling more than 20,000 units for the week. Meanwhile, the latest entry in the STEINS;GATE franchise managed to place three different versions inside the software top 10.

STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT Opens With More Than 15,000 Physical Sales

The biggest new arrival of the week was STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT, which launched in Japan on August 20.

Across Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and the original Nintendo Switch, the game sold an estimated 15,153 physical copies during its opening period.

The Switch 2 edition led the three versions with 7,613 copies sold, enough to claim fourth place on the individual software chart.

The PlayStation 5 edition followed with 4,002 copies, while the original Switch release added another 3,538 copies.

That gave the game the following opening-week breakdown:

Nintendo Switch 2: 7,613
PlayStation 5: 4,002
Nintendo Switch: 3,538
Combined: 15,153

It’s an interesting result for a multiplatform release, particularly because nearly half of its physical launch sales came from the Switch 2 edition.

Rhythm Heaven Groove Remains No. 1

Despite the new releases, Rhythm Heaven Groove remained the best-selling individual physical game of the week.

The Nintendo Switch title moved another 37,402 copies, pushing its reported Japanese physical total to 911,241 units.

With the million-copy mark now less than 90,000 units away, Rhythm Heaven Groove continues to demonstrate considerable staying power in Japan.

Nintendo also claimed the next two positions.

Splatoon Raiders for Switch 2 took second place with another 13,224 copies, bringing its physical total to 626,371.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream followed in third with 12,558 copies for the week. Its physical sales have now reached an impressive 1,574,773 units.

Nintendo Dominates the Software Chart

Nintendo platforms accounted for nearly the entire Famitsu top 10.

The week’s top ten physical releases were:

Rhythm Heaven Groove – Switch: 37,402
Splatoon Raiders – Switch 2: 13,224
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream – Switch: 12,558
STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT – Switch 2: 7,613
STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT – PS5: 4,002
Minecraft – Switch: 3,953
Powerful Pro Baseball 2026-2027 – Switch: 3,718
Pokémon Pokopia – Switch 2: 3,701
STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT – Switch: 3,538
Starsand Island – Switch 2: 3,415

The PS5 version of STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT was the only PlayStation title to crack the top 10.

Minecraft Just Keeps Selling

One of the more remarkable entries continues to be Minecraft.

The Switch edition sold another 3,953 physical copies during the week, despite originally launching on the platform back in June 2018.

That brings its reported lifetime Japanese retail sales to approximately 4.27 million copies.

Even eight years after its Switch release, Minecraft remains capable of competing with brand-new games on Japan’s weekly physical charts.

Switch 2 Remains Japan’s Best-Selling Console

The hardware chart once again belongs to Nintendo Switch 2.

Nintendo sold an estimated 20,734 Switch 2 systems during the week, taking the platform’s Japanese lifetime sales to approximately 6.22 million units.

Sony’s PlayStation 5 family combined for 6,397 units, while the original Nintendo Switch family moved a combined 6,111 systems.

Xbox Series X|S hardware combined for just 134 units.

The complete hardware breakdown was:

Nintendo Switch 2: 20,734
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition: 5,866
Nintendo Switch Lite: 3,543
Nintendo Switch OLED: 1,973
Nintendo Switch: 595
PlayStation 5 Pro: 418
PlayStation 5: 113
Xbox Series X: 59
Xbox Series S: 47
Xbox Series X Digital Edition: 28

Switch 2 therefore sold more than three times as many units as the entire PS5 family during the reporting period.

Switch 2 Passes 6.2 Million in Japan

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the hardware numbers is the continued momentum of Nintendo’s current-generation system.

Switch 2 has now reached an estimated 6,218,927 units sold in Japan according to Famitsu’s retail tracking.

The system’s weekly sales have slowed compared with some of its stronger periods, but it continues to hold a significant advantage over competing current-generation hardware in the Japanese market.

Nintendo also has another advantage: its previous-generation hardware hasn’t disappeared.

The Switch Lite, OLED and standard Switch collectively sold more than 6,000 additional systems during the week. That means Nintendo hardware accounted for roughly 26,845 consoles across the two Switch generations.

Older Nintendo Games Continue Showing Incredible Legs

The lower half of the top 30 once again illustrates one of Nintendo’s greatest strengths in Japan: evergreen software.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold another 1,884 copies, bringing its Japanese physical total close to six million.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons added another 1,681 copies and now sits at approximately 8.47 million physical copies.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a game that originally launched on Switch in 2017, sold another 1,232 copies and has now reached approximately 6.6 million physical units in Japan.

Even The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild remains on the chart, selling another 1,116 copies.

These aren’t simply successful games anymore. They’re long-term fixtures of the Japanese software market.

Nintendo’s Two-Generation Strategy Keeps Paying Off

The latest Famitsu results provide another snapshot of just how unusual Nintendo’s current position is.

Switch 2 is comfortably leading new hardware sales, but the original Switch ecosystem continues to generate meaningful hardware and software numbers alongside it.

At the same time, games such as Rhythm Heaven Groove, Splatoon Raiders, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream and Pokémon Pokopia are keeping Nintendo platforms heavily represented throughout the software rankings.

STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT provided the week’s biggest new release, but Nintendo’s combination of new Switch 2 software and evergreen Switch titles ultimately dominated the chart.

As Switch 2 moves deeper into its second year on the market, the bigger question may no longer be whether Nintendo can transition its audience to the new system.

It’s how long the original Switch can continue selling alongside it.