Japanese Charts - AstroBot barely registers and ps5 numbers plummet - Push Square

Greetings! Happy weekend! Sony friendly publication Push Square just assessed the latest Japanese sales numbers and it has described playststions latest sales as anything but positive....

Push Square Article

Im a little surprised that Japan isn't more interested in ASTRO bot but what do I know of the tastes of people living half an earth away? 🤷 It finished 2nd, but only 12k units? Huh?

PS5 price increase has certainly made it's mark as well... Sony sold half as many Consoles as they did last week....

The downward spiral continues for the console market.... And what in God's name is Sony doing? Do you make anything significant with sonys console strategy?

Best selling game on Amazon right now, sorry TC!

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Video-Games/zgbs/videogames

That's great, sounds like a game I'd like to try at some point... Why don't the Japanese?

Also... Why target me? It's sonys own push Square reporting it.

I don't understand why 6 million Japanese purchased this console in the first place. Sony spit in their faces when they closed Japan Studio.

Scratch that. Makes sense when I remember that the Japanese don't play on PC, need some way to play the new third party games and the alternative is Xbox. But it's mostly western slop.

Hard to believe Sony is a Japanese company, until you remember their other electronics.

It’s top 3 on Amazon Japan lol

https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/bestsellers/videogames

Great! Let's hope it picks up steam from 12k copies.... I mean wtf is that? Is that real? You're part of the Sony faithful, do you trust push Square?

When I owned a Dreamcast, I bought a new game every week. I haven't bought a new PS5 game in a year, and mostly just play PS4 games. This is my least favorite generation in gaming. Sigh.

We need tk set you up with a purdy new SNES and restart the clock a few decades bud....

I'll tell you, I've gone back to fish through a ton of games I skipped over the years and I've found some true gems...

I'm surprised the PS5 sold almost 6M units in Japan. I thought it was much less, given how poorly PS5 games sell on the JP charts. Yet out of almost 6M PS5 owners, only 13K purchased Astro Bot in its launch week. It doesn't make sense, as Astro Bot plays a lot like Mario games, which usually sell tons in Japan.

Sony is still a Japanese corporation, but their various divisions have a large degree of autonomy and function like separate companies. PlayStation division is no longer a Japanese company, but is now an American company. In 2016, Sony relocated PlayStation headquarters from Tokyo to California. Ever since then, PlayStation has essentially operated as an American company.

@TheEroica: I bought one of those mini SNES consoles a couple years ago. Money well spent, amigo.

Hopefully it does well because I wouldn’t mind seeing an Astro Bot 2.

Seems like the west is buying it up... Not sure why Japan isn't into it. 🤷

Probably a mix of a lot of factors, but in this case i'd say that it is poor advertisement.

I had a bad feeling. Once again, PS fans prefer the "mature" stuff.

It's no surprise, Japan is now the land of mobile gacha games and Switch

Most of them simply bought PS5 to play Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail because of the instant loading speed on PS5

"Genshin Impact Has Generated $1 Billion in Revenue on PlayStation within Its First 2 Years | Info Obtained from Sony's Internally Leaked Presentation"

Genshin has also grossed over $5B on mobile, adding up to over $6 billion in total. It's easily the highest-grossing game of this decade.

But surely that can't be the only thing JP gamers play on PS5? Seems like most Japanese PS5 owners don't buy games for it, but just use it to play online gacha stuff.

Ironically, if Astro Bot were a Switch game, it probably would've sold far more in Japan. Seems like it's only Switch owners that actually buy games in Japan.

Mario Kart 8's numbers always amaze me. Game is so old at this point, it's literally a wii u game.. what a success

Astro flop

You just got back from Japan, so Japan matters to you where the game has tanked, Solid just got #rekt

I had the pleasure of playing Astrobot on my PSVR on the PS4. Good game. Hope this new one gets a little more acknowledgement in Japan.

@SolidGame_basic: Coming in at #7 just below 1700 Roblox points isn’t exactly impressive.

We’re talking about video games silly 🤣

Haven't played the Astro series, but Super Mario looks much weirder, bubblier and more colorful.

I want to play Astro Bot, but personally don't care for its celebration of other PlayStation games. Because PlayStation is largely mediocre. The reason nobody cared about their Smash Brothers ripoff.

We are depending on sales from one major online store (Amazon.com)?

To be expected. People hesitated to purchase and waited for review. Expecting the tail to be much longer due to word of mouth.

Maybe I don't understand, it seems like the post topic is saying something different than the chart.

I think push Square is suggesting that despite it entering the charts at number 2 it only sold 12k copies which is meager... Very possible it picks up steam though.

@TheEroica: It seems like it's in line with the others next to it in the chart, so that doesn't really clarify things much. Anyway thanks for trying to help.

Damage control is delicious.😂

You are correct. In line. Actually #2, which is almost best. The point the article is making is that it's a Sony first party gsne and traditionally that would sell many thousands more copies....

@TheEroica: Ok

I mean, they talk down on games like Astro Bot, then are surprised when it doesn't sell. :p

Please note this for physical copies only. We have to wait until the digital sales come out. I bought my copies so was not counted in the UK Charts - which only counts physical too.

PS is not really the place for fun and quirky games. If you like pretentious and derivative movie wannabes, they have you covered.

The game is picking up steam all over the world with sales. Japan is starting to buy the game more and it's the best selling game in several countries. This was one of those "wait and see" type games. I was skeptical as well until I saw Dashie playing the game and then I wanted it as well. It has a high score and doesn't charge you the extra 10 dollar premium a lot of games do this generation. It will sell well by the end and there will be an Astrobot 2.., it's literally one of the trophies. With all that being said I expect this game to continue selling decently until at least the end of the generation and I wouldn't be surprised to see a special edition PS5 Pro bundled with the game eventually. It might possibly also drop on Plus one of these days. It's a great game and the franchise will only keep growing. Also, seeing as how like 80 percent of sales are digital these days let's wait to see overall sales numbers, I think they will shock a few people.

@ghostofgolden: You running damage control for cows now i see 🤦‍♂️

First off, Nintendo titles still rank years after release. Unreal.

Second, I'm also surprised Astro Bot hasn't been as well received by the Japanese as I would have thought. The type of game and its "cuteness" seem to be things right up the alley of JPN gamers.

@ghostofgolden said:

Lems/Herms getting rekt left and right!

Poo cows. lol :P

@SolidGame_basic: Sony haters trip over themselves to make stupid posts

TC wants to spread FUD, doom and gloom & fake news about Astro Bot which align with his red eyed campaign to slander and tear down anything Sony/Playstation related.

Imagine claiming "Astro bot barely registers.."

then in your own source show Astro bot is currently the 2nd highest selling game in region you're trying to spread that BAD news about??

......

TIP TC: Barely registering is what Hellblade 2 did for MS IN ALL REGIONS when it launched. Learn the difference and try again

Someone didn't read the article title from Sony friendly push Square... 🤣

How long did that post take to write? Could've just read the article title. Doh...

All bravado with no substance... Where have I seen these posts before... 🤔

@TheEroica: Come on man. You wrote this in the OP… “The downward spiral continues for the console market.... And what in God's name is Sony doing? Do you make anything significant with sonys console strategy?”

We all know you love the Steam Deck. But that doesn’t have to equate to the console market crashing. You don’t have to like consoles, or their strategies. But all the market performance data contradicts all of your beliefs. All of them…

Astro Bot is selling better than all multiplat games in the same genre their debut week. It sold very well in the UK and US. And yes the Japan numbers were low, but numbers were down there across the board. You can accept those factual statements and still love your Steam Deck. Sony isn’t going to come to your door and take it from you. I promise

YOU are the one who proudly posted this nonsense, so be a man and accept the criticism that comes along with the narrative you wanted to push and stand behind.

Trying to distance yourself from things you promote is a sign of cowardice and lack of character.

are you surprised?..

On-Topic: I'm personally glad to see a smaller scale game from Sony get critical acclaim.. it's refreshing.. hopefully there's enough commercial success to see more games like this on a more consistent basis..

Hmmm, I really need more platformers so I'd like to see this game do well.

I wrote the OP based on the article written.... Why are we talking about the steam deck? Totally confused. The article suggests console sales in Japan cut in half after the price increase and Astro Bot didn't sell great in week 1.... I said I was surprised. Seems like a game japan would love. I do think consoles are spiraling a bit, but I'm still trying to figure out what the steam deck has to do with your comments?

Sweet Jesus I'm not sure how to state this clearer.... The articles title is the same as the thread title.... You tossing all sorts of rage at me can't change the article title. Bravado, accusations.... Zero actual substance.