Snow May Have Frozen Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze’s Sales

Last week, Nintendo released Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in Japan, and the game sold a mere 35,717 copies in its first week on store shelves. Japanese sales tracker Media Create say that the game sold through just 35.28% of its initial shipment.

In comparison, 2010’s Donkey Kong Country Returns and 2013’s Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D both sold  far more. Returns sold 163,310 copies in its first week, while Returns 3D, a port of the game for the Nintendo 3DS, sold 104,569 copies.

Additionally, Wii U hardware sales barely saw an increase either when Tropical Freeze launched. Sales of the Wii U hardware increased by just 1,600 units over the week  prior.

Media Create say that the problem could be that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze isn’t appealing to new users. However, they add that heavy snow in Japan’s Tohoku and Northern Kanto regions could have slowed sales of the game down over the weekend, meaning it would be wiser to wait a little longer to see if sales pick up in the coming weeks.