Japanese retailers and industry-watchers had expected a major launch weekend for Square Enix's
Dragon Quest IX but the title's first two days of sales have beaten expectations -- the game has sold 2.34 million units since July 11.
Preorders for the title were clocking well over the two million mark, as predictions wondered whether the title would outsell the previous franchise bestseller, PlayStation 2 title
Dragon Quest VIII.
According to consumer weblog Kotaku, which also translated
DQIX launch sales from Famitsu publisher Enterbrain,
DQVIII sold 2.23 million in its first week, meaning the new DS title has already beaten prior benchmarks in just one weekend.
Both games share a developer in common: Both
DQVIII and
DQIX, whose full title is
Dragon Quest IX: Defenders of the Starry Sky, are developed by Japanese independent
Professor Layton publisher/developer Level-5.
Merchandizer Taketo Matsuo of popular chain retailer Tsutaya
recently said that in his experience, DS games "have a tendency to be long sellers even with low pre-orders," so it's likely unit sales for
DQIX have plenty of growth potential ahead.
