Pikmin 4 first week sales in Japan more than double the series’ previous best

First week sales for Pikmin 4 in Japan were reported this week, with the game selling just over 400,000 copies. You might be interested to hear that this is the best performance for the series so far, and it’s not even close.

When the first Pikmin hit GameCube back in 2001, it sold 101,299 copies in its first week. Pikmin 2 did better, but still only moved 161,930 units back in 2004. Pikmin 3 then took a step back with its Wii U launch at 102,188 copies (not counting digital). Pikmin 3 Deluxe later saw its Switch launch in 2020 with 171,349 units sold (again without digital).

With Pikmin 4 selling 401,853 copies, it more than doubled Pikmin 3 Deluxe – which was the previous high. Digital isn’t accounted for – and eShop downloads are only growing in popularity over physical – so that number could have been higher.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe is currently the best-selling entry in the franchise at 2.23 million as of December 2021. You can throw in another million or so copies if you want to count the original Wii U release as well. We only have Japanese date thus far, but if this early information is anything to go by, Pikmin 4 should end up taking the crown in due time.