Dragon Quest X sells nearly half a million in first week

Dragon Quest X has managed to shift more than 420,311 units in its first week at market, according to Famitsu and Enterbrain. Launching a week ago today, August 2nd, the Japanese release of the online role-player marks one of the final few compelling titles to be released on the venerable progenitor of motion controls.

While those numbers may seem initially impressive for a third-party Wii game targeting the core audience, both Dragon Quest IX and VIII sold more than two million copies when they launched on their respective platforms (Nintendo DS and PS2) back in 2009 and 2004. Despite the relatively lackluster numbers, it doesn’t sound as though Square Enix will be hurting because of it. If Final Fantasy XI was any indicator, the publisher is likely to make up any lost cash (and then some) through subscription fees.

Nintendo is also likely to line their pockets on account of the MMO. In addition to offering standalone copies, Square partnered with the platform holder on a bundle that included the game, Wii system, and a USB drive. As a result, hardware sales spiked to 41,561 in Japan, blasting past the PS3’s 14,544 but falling well short of the Nintendo 3DS’ 118,786.

Dragon Quest X Sells 420,000 First Week [Andriasang]