Rhythm Heaven Groove Tops Japan Charts Again as eBaseball 2026 Debuts at No. 2
Rhythm Heaven Groove has held onto the No. 1 spot on Japan’s retail software chart for a third straight week, according to Famitsu’s data for July 13-19, 2026, even as three brand-new releases muscled their way into the top ten. The latest expanded Japanese software sales list [NSW] Rhythm Heaven Groove at 76,786 units sold, followed by [PS5] eBaseball: Pro Spirit 2026 debuting at 20,661 units and [NSW] Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream at 18,608 units. The figures were independently compiled by both Nintendo Everything and Perfectly Nintendo from Famitsu’s magazine data.
Nintendo’s rhythm-game revival is cooling off but still comfortably ahead of the pack. Rhythm Heaven Groove sold 76,786 copies in the tracking week, a 39% drop from the prior week, bringing its lifetime Japanese tally to 596,237 units. That’s a steep week-on-week fall but still more than triple the number-two placement, underlining how dominant the launch has been for a series that had been dormant for years.
Konami’s eBaseball: Pro Spirit 2026 Debuts at No. 2 With Global Ambitions
eBaseball: Pro Spirit 2026 opened at No. 2 on PlayStation 5 with 20,661 units sold in Japan, a solid but comparatively modest domestic debut for a title Konami has been pushing hard overseas. Unlike most entries in the long-running Professional Baseball Spirits series, this instalment marks Konami’s first attempt to sell the Nippon Professional Baseball simulation to a worldwide audience rather than keeping it a Japan-only release.
According to Sportico, Konami released a worldwide version of eBaseball Pro Spirit 2026 to more than 200 countries and regions, including the U.S., after the full simulation-style baseball game had only been available in Japan since its March debut, making it the first NPB-licensed video game Konami has launched for a global audience. The Western release also added English-language commentary and a partnership with Major League Baseball, a sign Konami wants the franchise to grow well beyond its traditional domestic fanbase, even if the first Famitsu numbers on PS5 in Japan stayed relatively modest next to Rhythm Heaven Groove.
Kyoto Xanadu Splits Sales Across Switch and PS5 Editions
Nihon Falcom’s new action-RPG Kyoto Xanadu launched simultaneously across two platforms, and the split shows a clear lean towards Nintendo’s hardware. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream held third place with 18,608 units sold, pushing its lifetime total in Japan to 1,476,557, while Kyoto Xanadu debuted fourth on Switch with 15,431 copies, ahead of its PlayStation 5 counterpart in fifth place. A separate Install Base forum compilation, cross-referencing the same Famitsu figures, noted the PS5 edition trailed the Switch version by roughly 2,000 units in its opening week — a pattern that has become increasingly common for mid-budget Japanese RPGs chasing Nintendo’s larger install base at home.
Culdcept Begins Opens Across Two Switch Editions, Robot Anime Shooter Also Debuts
Publisher Neos split its board-game hybrid Culdcept Begins across two SKUs for its Japanese launch. Culdcept Begins: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition opened at No. 6 with 12,734 units sold, while the standard Switch version landed further down the chart with a smaller opening tally, illustrating how publishers are increasingly offering parallel Switch and Switch 2 packages for the same game during the console transition. Elsewhere in the top ten, 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X for Switch debuted at No. 7 with 8,674 units, a strong showing for a licensed shoot-’em-up niche title, while Power Pros 2026-2027 held at No. 8 with 7,496 units sold and a lifetime total of 176,009, down 16% week-on-week. Further down, Nintendo’s own Pokémon Pokopia continued its long tail on Switch 2, with Pokemon Pokopia recording 4,503 units sold and a lifetime total of 1,086,699, down 19% from the previous week.
Switch 2 Hardware Sales Dip Ahead of Splatoon Raiders
On the hardware side, Nintendo’s newest console cooled off slightly week-on-week. Famitsu’s hardware sales for the tracking week showed Switch 2 selling 24,928 units, PS5 Digital Edition at 9,024, Switch Lite at 2,930, Switch OLED at 2,853, Switch at 613, PS5 Pro at 350, PS5 at 200, Xbox Series S at 43, Xbox Series X Digital Edition at 31 and Xbox Series X at 19, a drop from the prior week’s Switch 2 tally of 28,755 units. Community trackers following the same Famitsu release flagged that the softer hardware week could be a temporary lull ahead of Splatoon Raiders, which several forum threads compiling the data expected to give Switch 2 a fresh sales bump once it reached retail.
Read also: Splatoon Raiders: Which Tank Should You Pick First? Speed, Power or Tactical Explained
Why Rhythm Heaven Groove’s Run Matters Beyond Japan
Rhythm Heaven Groove’s staying power at the top of Japan’s charts is notable given the series’ long absence — it is the fifth installment in Nintendo’s Rhythm Heaven series, following Rhythm Heaven Megamix in 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS. Being priced lower than other Switch games at US$39.99 both physically and digitally, the game’s price was welcomed by critics, a value proposition that also carried over to the Southern Hemisphere: regional storefront listings compiled around launch put the game at AU$59.95 and NZ$69.95, noticeably below Nintendo’s usual first-party asking price in both markets. With the game already out worldwide, New Zealand and Australian Switch owners have had the same access to Tsunku’s new mini-game collection as Japanese players since July 2, and the fresh Famitsu numbers suggest word of mouth is still carrying it strongly more than three weeks after launch.
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