Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake was Japan’s only million-selling physical game last year

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake was the only game to sell more than a million copies physically in Japan last year.

Famitsu has posted its annual Japan sales report for 2024, which focuses mainly on physical software sales in Japan (and therefore doesn’t count digital sales).

According to Famitsu, the Switch and PS5 versions of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake combined sold 1.161 million units, making it the only game last year to pass the 1 million mark for physical sales.

It also points out, however, that the Switch version accounted for 930,505 of those total sales (the PS5 version sold around 230,000 copies), meaning when treated as individual releases neither sold 1 million copies physically.

Indeed, when treating multi-format games as individual releases, last year’s best-selling physical game in Japan was actually Super Mario Party Jamboree, which sold 954,261 copies.

The physical top 10 consisted almost entirely of Nintendo Switch games, with the only exception being Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PS5, which was at number 9.

The top 10 best-selling physical games in Japan last year, in terms of individual releases, were as follows:

1. Super Mario Party Jamboree – Switch (954,261)
2. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake – Switch (930,505)
3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Switch (536,019)
4. Super Mario Bros Wonder – Switch (419,854)
5. Momotaru Densetsu World: Chikyuu wa Kibou de Mawatteru! – Switch (411,406)
6. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Switch (377,781)
7. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – Switch (372,903)
8. Minecraft – Switch (368,364)
9. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth – PS5 (358,353)
10. Powerful Pro Baseball 2024-25 – Switch (341,908)

2024 marked the 20th year in a row that Nintendo had dominated Japanese game sales.

In 2004, eight out of the top 10 best-selling games were PS2 titles, but Nintendo has taken the majority of Japan’s top ten sellers every year since.