Famitsu: Street Fighter VI Fails To Unseat Zelda

Taking a look at Famitsu’s sales charts for the week of May 29-June 4, 2023, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom once again snags the top spot, which it has held since releasing in mid-May. Although it netted only 78,602 sales, this brings the newest Zelda title to a respectable 1,594,275 in sold copies. (Once again, Famitsu’s data covers only physical sales made in Japan – Tears also had a strong sales week digitally and internationally, but this is not included here.)

Other than Tears’ holding strong in first place, the rest of the list saw quite a shakeup from last week. Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection came in second, with the newly debuted Street Fighter VI holding BOTH third and fourth places. (This is due to the game releasing for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 – the PS5 version took third, and the PS4 fourth.) This is extremely impressive, as the game released on June 2nd, at the tail end of the sales period. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, in fifth, managed to stay on the list another week, although it dropped three places.

The bottom half of the list contained a mix of new entries and returning mainstays from last week. We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie, which released on June 1st, took sixth place with just under 8,500 sales during its first post-release period. Despite being six years old, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild hung on in the seventh slot, with 7,075 sales – likely due to a resurgence in popularity caused by the debut of its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. This is a fall from last week, where Breath placed third, but is still impressive for a game that’s been out over half a decade!

The Nintendo Switch version of Minecraft took eighth place, falling from last week’s fifth. In ninth place was a new Nintendo Switch RPG, Loop8: The Summer of Gods. This game, set in 1980s Japan and featuring a heavily choice-based system, received mixed reviews following its June 1st release. Finally, rounding out the list in tenth place is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a regular top-10 mainstay. (Its recent high sales may also have been affected by Tears of the Kingdom, as Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf all appear as playable characters.)

Several games dropped from the top ten due to the appearance of hard-hitting new titles like Street Fighter VI. These included Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Splatoon 3, Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, and Nintendo Switch Sports. Despite all titles dropped being for the Nintendo Switch, this was still a strong week for the Switch, with the two Street Fighter VI versions being the only non-Switch entries on the list.

Here is the full Famitsu sales chart for the week of May 29 – June 4:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) – 78,602 weekly / 1,594,275 total
2. Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (Switch) – 38,656 weekly [New Release This Week]
3. Street Fighter VI (PlayStation 5) – 21,192 weekly [New Release This Week]
4. Street Fighter VI (PlayStation 4) – 12,078 weekly [New Release This Week]
5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) – 9,641 weekly / 5,319,756 total
6. We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie (Switch) – 8,415 weekly [New Release This Week]
7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) – 7,075 weekly / 2,203,151 total
8. Minecraft (Switch) – 6,152 weekly / 3,152,980 total
9. Loop8: Summer of Gods (Switch) – 5,796 weekly [New Release This Week]
10. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) – 5,606 weekly / 5,205,971 total