Unicorn Overlord Tops Japanese Sales Charts Again

Despite Dragon's Dogma 2 boasting marginally better launch sales than Rise of the Ronin (with both titles releasing on the same day), it's Team Ninja's PS5 exclusive that's managed to stand stronger in the latest Japanese charts. Indeed, Ronin has actually done quite well for itself, shifting an additional 20,000 retail copies over the last week, bringing its total to a fairly respectable 85,000 units. It was topped only by Princess Peach: Showtime!.

Last week’s Japanese sales charts saw Princess Peach: Showtime! beating out competition from the likes of Rise of the Ronin and Dragon’s Dogma 2 to take the top spot in the software charts, and this week, the action-adventure game has managed to hold on to that position, as per the latest weekly data revealed by Famitsu. Selling over 27,000 units, it holds a decent lead over Rise of the Ronin, which climbed up to the No. 2 position with an additional 20,000 units sold.

Police in Japan arrested on April 3 a 27-year old man suspected of threatening Nintendo staff, events, and spectators. Due to these threats, Nintendo announced in December it was canceling several events, like Nintendo Live and the Splatoon Koshien 2023 finals, and postponing others. Japanese newspaper the Kyoto Shimbun first reported the arrest. According to the report, the man admitted to the threats.

The publisher of Unicorn Overlord says there are currently no plans for DLC or a PC port, but a recent survey does mention the possibility of a sequel.

It's a stellar day for a JRPG sales update: Dragon's Dogma 2 has soared past 2.5 million copies sold, while the stellar Unicorn Overlord has sold 500,000 copies worldwide since launch.

Vanillaware’s Unicorn Overlord launched in a busy month, with Rise of the Ronin and Dragon’s Dogma 2 arriving nearly two weeks later. Nevertheless, it’s seen an impressive reception, selling out physical copies and topping Japanese sales charts for two weeks. Atlus has also released an accolades trailer, confirming over 500,000 units sold. Check it out below.

It sounds like Dragon's Dogma 2 and Rise of the Ronin — both released on Friday of last week — have struggled to make an immediate impact in the UK. While we don't have the full sales charts just yet, GamesIndustry.biz's ever-knowledgeable Christopher Dring has outlined the relative success of the new releases, and it's fair to say that neither game has done well. At least, not at retail.

Three relatively big games all released on the same day last week: Dragon's Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin, and Princess Peach: Showtime!. But as we all know, Japan absolutely adores its Nintendo Switch exclusives — and so perhaps it's no huge surprise to see the latter title top the latest charts.

Several major games released at the same time last week, and though most have made it into the latest weekly Japanese sales charts released by Famitsu, the one that’s topped the charts might not be the one many would have expected. Princess Peach: Showtime! sits on top of the charts, beating out both Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Rise of the Ronin.

If you grew up playing games like Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Need for Speed Underground, Wangan Midnight, and the like, you'll feel right at home in the driver's seat of a souped-up sports car in Night-Runner.

Horse racing simulation game Winning Post 10 2024 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC, and shoot ’em up Radirgy 2for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.

Being a Vanillaware title, the recently released (and excellent) strategy RPG Unicorn Overlord bears immediate resemblance to the Japanese developer's previous outings, like Muramasa: Rebirth, Dragon's Crown, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. This is because longtime artist and studio co-founder Shigatake insists on depicting food as hyper-realistically as possible and defying the laws of physics when it comes to depicting the female form.