Monster Hunter Freedom Unites 3.5M in Japan

The Japanese gaming market has seen considerable weakness thus far this year, with stat-tracking firm Enterbrain saying last week that sales in the region are down 24 percent year-over-year. Still, a handful of titles are defying the overall trend, one of the most notably being Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise.

Today, Capcom said that Monster Hunter Freedom Unite has combined with its greatest hits "the Best" edition to ship more than 3.5 million units in Japan. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite saw initial release in Japan in March 2008, with "the Best" edition following in October. Capcom further noted that "the Best" edition has individually shipped 1 million units. According to Capcom, combined sales qualify it as the first PSP game to have shipped 3.5 million units in Japan.

Traditionally not as popular outside of Japan, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite saw release in the US to middling reviews last month. Capcom plans to release the latest installment in the franchise, Monster Hunter 3(tri-), in Japan on August 1. The game will be available solo or as part of the first third-party game bundle for Nintendo's console..

For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.