Pikmin 4 Passes Another Impressive Sales Milestone

Pikmin 4 just reached another sales milestone as the real-time strategy game has sold more than 1 million copies in Japan. Pikmin 4 broke records earlier this year by becoming the best-selling game in the franchise just months after release. Now, the game continues to cruise along, remaining on charts and reaching new heights for the series.

Pikmin 4 isn’t just a bestseller, but it’s also a critically acclaimed and fan-favorite title for Nintendo. Not to mention, Pikmin 4 scored two of Nintendo’s 15 Game Awards 2023 nominations and took home the prize for Best Sim/Strategy Game. As if that weren’t enough, the game continues to accumulate records.

In Japan alone, Pikmin 4 has sold more than 1 million physical copies, according to sales numbers gathered by Famitsu and translated by Gematsu. Nintendo historically doesn’t offer digital sales numbers, so the overall total for Pikmin 4 in Japan is likely much higher. To put this number into context, Pikmin, Pikmin 2, and Pikmin 3 all sold far less than 2 million copies on the GameCube and Wii U, respectively. The Nintendo Switch has proven to have the secret formula, however, as Pikmin 3 Deluxe and Pikmin 4 are now the two best-selling games in the series.

Best-Selling Games in Japan for 12/4/23 -12/10/23

1. [NSW] Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo, 10/20/23) – 82,470 (1,232,981)
2. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu World: Chikyuu wa Kibou de Mawatteru! (Konami, 11/16/23) – 62,488 (540,444)
3. [NSW] Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (Square Enix, 12/01/23) – 51,698 (398,281)
4. [NSW] Pikmin 4 (Nintendo, 07/21/23) – 26,879 (1,005,562)
5. [NSW] Super Mario RPG (Nintendo, 11/17/23) – 17,082 (396,836)
6. [PS5] Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (New Price Version) (Square Enix, 12/07/23) – 14,085 (New)
7. [NSW] WarioWare: Move It! (Nintendo, 11/03/23) – 13,544 (87,823)
8. [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 12,861 (3,338,767)
9. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 12,189 (5,568,741)
10. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo, 12/07/18) – 11,398 (5,347,546)

Again, in Japan alone, Pikmin 4 sold another 26,879 copies last week. Pikmin 4 was the fourth best-selling game in the country during that period, slotted just ahead of Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. The top-selling game in Japan last week was none other than Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which added another 82,470 copies to its total.

As the updated list of best-selling Nintendo Switch games shows, attach rates for the hybrid console have been extraordinarily high. Despite selling roughly 20 million more units than the Switch at this point, nothing in the Nintendo DS library has sold anywhere close to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Animal Crossing: New Horizons numbers. Not to take anything away from the success Pikmin 4 is enjoying, but software across the board has largely seen a bump thanks to the enthusiasm Switch owners have for the console.

With the current year coming to a close, Nintendo has already announced several 2024 games – a few of which are coming in the first quarter. The upcoming calendar year also looks to be an exciting time for Nintendo fans, considering many believe that is when the company will unveil, and potentially release, the Switch’s successor. Until then, Switch gamers are already likely to have more than a few games in their backlog between 2023 releases like Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Super Mario RPG, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and, of course, Pikmin 4.

Pikmin 4

Pikmin 4 is the latest installment in Nintendo’s real-time strategy puzzle series. The game sees players take on the role of a Rescue Corps rookie as they explore a strange and unusual planet with the help of their fellow Rescue Corps team members, their loyal space pup Oatchi, and, of course, the titular Pikmin.

Released

July 21, 2023

Developer(s)

Nintendo

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

How Long To Beat

17 Hours