Atelier Ryzareleased on September 26 in Japan for PS4 and Switch, and it seems like Gust struck gold with it. On September 27,TheWall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizukitweetedthat sources saidAtelier Ryzahad the best launch sales ever for theAtelierseries. In short, this means preorders for the game were incredibly high.In the Japanese version of the tweet, Mochizuki also mentioned how a lot of people praised the game’s battle system and howAtelier Ryzatrended on Twitter on release day. The latter point was something theofficial Gust Twitter also noted.
On September 30,Koei Tecmo via Mochizuki released the first sales numbers forAtelier Ryza. The game currently sold over 150,000 copies, physical and digital included, and is sold out in multiple stores. According to Game Data Library, the previous record-holder wasAtelier Meruru, which sold 100.722 copies in its first week when it released on June 19, 2025, in Japan.
I believeAtelier Ryza’ssuccess can be attributed to multiple reasons.
The first reason is simply thatAtelier Ryzaseems to be a pretty good game. Koei Tecmo and Gust did an excellent job at promoting it too. Most notably, while it’s technically turn-based, the battle system changed into something which looks pretty fun. It’s much more dynamic too, and everyone knows most players nowadays like dynamic and action RPG-like gameplay. It’s no wonder people are praising it.Atelier Ryzaalso has a cooldecoration system and farming system. Youcan alsocreate your own exploration fields and share themwith other players. Lastly,Atelier Ryza’s story also has different themes than most of the other games in the series, as Gust tried to start a “new type ofAtelier” with this game. It seems like this approach worked well.
The second reason I can think of is the various shop-specific preorder goodsAtelier Ryzahad,plus its limited edition. Shop-specific preorder goods will make hardcore fans preorder the same game multiple times to get them. Most of the products also feature some risque illustrations, but it’s not necessarily only for the female characters. This is something every single Japanese game does, so it’s nearly not enough to explain this highly-successful launch. It can reveal a lot when coupled with the other reason below, though.
One of the biggest reasons may be how Ryza’s character design created a buzz. Right after the game was announced in May 2019, Ryza’sZettai Ryouiki-focused design made a huge stir on Twitter. There’s also how character designer Toridamono explicitly said in the game’s firstDengeki PlayStation interviewthat he basically said that they paid attention to making Ryza’s thighs look as fat as possible. Now… this is interesting. While I’m far from being anAtelierseries specialist, I don’t believe it’s merely a case of people with a thighs fetish preordering the game because of Ryca’s design. In my opinion, Ryza’s character design isn’t particularly more risque than some other designs in the series.
If you pick the titular protagonist ofAtelier Marie, the first game in the series, she also wears a pretty high-exposure outfit. This is something which happened a lot with other games too, like theArlandsubseries with character designs by Kishida Mel, or theMysterioussubseries character designs by Yuugen and Noco. You can argue that for over a decade, theAtelierseries panders more to male otaku players by using more sexual service, it’s not something which started withAtelier Ryza. And it’s not like Zettai Ryouiki wasn’t a big thing for over twenty years now.
This is far from being the first time a character’s design creates such a buzz. But I believe it’s rare that it actually translates into preorders like withAtelier Ryza, and this is what makes it noteworthy. While I do not mean to undermine their work, in my opinion, Gust got lucky.
AfterAtelier Ryza’s announcement, multiple popular artists started drawing fanart of Ryza, with some, of course, being explicit. As the buzz kept going, numerous popular cosplayers started wearing Ryza’s outfits at events too. Most notably, Moe Iori’s Ryza cosplay at Comiket 96 in August went viral; she is now officially hired byKoei Tecmo and DMM to cosplay Ryza. There was also alife-sized Ryza statue at TGSearlier this month.
After seeing the buzz, it seems that Koei Tecmo was also quick on the uptake. They announced a 1/7 scale Ryza figure by Wonderful Works in late July, at Wonder Festival Summer 2019. Usually, game characters don’t get a figure announced unless they’re very popular, and a figure announcement happening two months after the game’s reveal–and before the game is out–is even rarer. It’ll be interesting to see how much the figure will be scalped for when it releases in June 2020.
Big Japanese outlet Game Watch also interviewed character designer Toridamono, asking aboutAtelier Ryza’s character designs. Koei Tecmo also allowed Game Watch to publish multiple illustrations and character design drafts. This is something we usually don’t see until when an artbook is released, long after the game’s launch.We covered the interview herein August.
Lastly, adult-oriented doujinshi manga based onAtelier Ryzawere also sold online and at events such as C96 in August, before the game even released. This isn’t particularly rare (seeDragon’s Crown, who probably owns the nonexistent Guinness World Record of “most porn before the game released”), but I’m bringing it up as it’s a good occasion to mention an exciting story. Shortly before Comiket 96, there’s a particular doujinshi author who complained about how Koei Tecmo seemingly prohibited them from selling theirAtelier Ryzadoujin. This is something that never happens. Doujinshi is technically illegal because of copyright infringement, but rights holders pretty much never prohibit them or send warnings or sue authors. Even in cases like here, where it’s sold before the game or anime it’s based on is out.
What likely irked Koei Tecmo about that author is how, besides their doujin, they were also planning to sell goods based on the game. That’s where the problem lies â the products they were planning to sell included things like towels. Unlike explicit doujins where everyone will know it’s unofficial, these goods can be mistaken for official goods. Fans could mistakenly buy these, making the author profit instead of Koei Tecmo hence why Koei Tecmo gave them a warning.
When this happened, a few supported the author, tweeting things like “I’m gonna cancel my preorder ofAtelier Ryza,” but seems that had zero impact. Most people realized that the author was in the wrong and throwing a tantrum.
That’s all the story, and this is only Japan we’re talking about. IfAtelier Ryzagets huge in the west too, maybe it’ll mark the debut ofAtelieras a less niche series. We’ll get first sales estimates forAtelier Ryza’s first week in Japan whenFamitsupublishes theirs on October 2. This is when we’ll get an estimate on whether the PS4 or Switch version sold the most.Producer Junzo Hosoirecently talked about what Gust is planning afterAtelier Ryza, and how Ryza will make an appearance in the next game.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideoutlaunches on October 29. The game is coming to PS4, Switch, and PC.you may preorder it now on Amazon.
