Each week, a Japanese organization known as Media Create releases sales charts that show how each and every game and piece of hardware sold in the country. It only took about three months for PlayStation 4 to surpass Wii U’s global sales. But in Sony’s home country, PlayStation 4 isn’t performing like some suspected it would and is quickly falling far behind Wii U.
If you look at Media Create reports for both PlayStation 4 and Wii U, you realize that, surprisingly, Nintendo’s Wii U is steadily outpacing the PlayStation 4 through their first three weeks following launch. Here are Wii U’s numbers:
Week 1- 308,142 sales
Week 2- 126,916 sales
Week 3- 122,843 sales
Total Sales- 557,901 units
Here’s a look at PS4’s numbers during it’s first 3 weeks:
Week 1- 309,104 sales
Week 2- 65,685 sales
Week 3- 35,294 sales
Total Sales- 410,083 units
What do these numbers show? At this point, it’s hard to say. Clearly the PS4 is having trouble in the Japanese market and is falling well behind Wii U. The problem for both consoles is a lack of games. The Wii U suffered, and still suffers, from a lack of software titles. The biggest Japanese launch title for PlayStation 4 was Yakuza: Ishin but it came out on the PlayStation 3 the same day. The best selling PS4 game in Japan? Knack, which was a big hit for PS4. Don’t let yourself think too much of that though, because Knack came with every single PS4 sold in Japan.
The PS4 will likely rebound from these poor sales but it’s a troubling start for Sony’s latest console.