Kirby Air Riders burst onto the Japanese market with a strong debut, topping Famitsu’s weekly sales chart for the period of November 17 through November 23, 2025. The new Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive launched on November 20 and immediately shot to first place, selling 195,594 copies in its first few days.
The game outsold several chart regulars, including Mario Kart World, which took second place with 67,068 units and has now hit a lifetime total of over 2.2 million copies. The standard Switch version of Pokémon Legends Z-A followed in third with 28,480 sales, though this was a 24 percent drop from the week before. Meanwhile, Momotaro Dentetsu 2 fell from first to fourth as its weekly sales came in at 28,074 units. Separate Switch 2 versions of both Pokémon Legends Z-A and Momotaro Dentetsu 2 also showed up within the top ten, highlighting consistent demand across both console generations.
The overall top ten list was evenly split between Switch 2 and older Nintendo Switch games, showing that the legacy system is still resilient. Minecraft and Animal Crossing: New Horizons returned to the lower spots on the chart, each selling more than 4,900 units for the week.
Hardware sales were also dominated by the Switch 2, which sold 126,953 units for the week, another high mark as it nears three million units sold for the year so far. The PlayStation 5 family was next with a combined total of 36,983 units, helped significantly by sales of the PS5 Digital Edition. The original Nintendo Switch family still contributed 29,370 units despite its age in the market. Xbox Series systems trailed with 349 units, while the PlayStation 4 continued its slow exit with only 17 units sold.
Kirby Air Riders benefits from being the follow-up to the 2003 GameCube title, keeping the simple two-button control scheme while making its scope much bigger across several modes. Its inclusion of Air Ride races, Top Ride, and the massive, sixteen-player City Trial mode provides a wide choice of competitive and casual ways to play that take advantage of the Switch 2’s abilities. Released only for the new hardware, the game appears to have successfully leveraged both player nostalgia and current market momentum.
With such a strong start and a platform that continues to perform well, Kirby Air Riders is in a strong position entering the season. Results in the coming weeks will show if the game can hold onto its early lead or if competition from established bestsellers will change the chart hierarchy as November comes to a close.
