"Winter Games" is the seventh Japanese single by the South Korean boy band 2PM. It was released on October 16, 2013, in three different editions. The single was the group's first song to top the Oricon Singles Chart and the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart.
Background and release The song "Winter Games" was first performed at 2PM's first official fan meeting in Japan titled YaZoo on September 7–8, 2013, a month before the single's official release. The song is a sentimental ballad in the dance-pop genre themed around winter, composed by Super Changddai.
The single includes "Stay Here" as B-side track, which was originally intended to be included as a B-side track for the group's previous single, "Masquerade". The limited edition B version comes with a bonus track, the Japanese version of "Comeback When You Hear This Song" from their third Korean studio album Grown. The music video of "Winter Games" features South Korean actress Shim Ji-won.
On September 9, 2013, the single's jacket photos were released on 2PM's official Japanese website. The B-side "Stay Here" was pre-released as a ringtone on September 30, 2013, topping RecoChoku's daily ringtone charts.
Promotion 2PM performed "Winter Games" on Japanese television music shows, including the October 24, 2013 episode of and the October 25, 2013 episode of . The group then held a "Hi Touch" fan event on November 2, 2013 at Tokyo Big Sight. In addition, the group held special shows titled 2PM Xmas Live 2013 in Universal Studios Japan on November 23–24, 2013, where they performed several songs including "Winter Games" to a total attendance of 11,000 fans.
Commercial performance "Winter Games" sold about 109,000 copies in its debut week, becoming the group's first single to chart at number-one on the Oricon Singles Chart. The song also became the group's first single to chart at number-one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for selling over 100,000 copies.
Track listing
Charts Oricon Oricon Chart Peak Debut sales Sales total Ref. Daily Singles Chart 1 65,696 108,537 Weekly Singles Chart 1 108,537
Other Charts ChartPeak positionRef.Billboard Japan Hot 1001
Release history Country Date Format LabelRef.Japan October 16, 2013 Digital download, CD, CD + DVD Epic Records JapanKorea November 7, 2013 Digital download JYP Entertainment
References
External links Official Website Japanese Official Website