Pokémon Sword and Shield are now the highest selling Pokémon games of the last 20 years, third overall (18.22M units)

[Atheerios]

From:

IR Information : Sales Data - Top Selling Title Sales Units

www.nintendo.co.jp

18.22 M sales.

Third place after Gold/Silver and Red/Blue/Green.

• Red/Green/Blue (1996)31.38M
• Gold/Silver (1999)23.1M
• Sword/Shield (2019) 18.22M
• Diamond/Pearl (2006)17.67M

 

[Aleh]

Talent always wins!
Just wait until the second holiday

 

[chaobreaker]

Not a surprise. They're good games despite all the what the most hardcore Pokemon fans will tell you.

 

[Deleted member 4034]

I maintain that I'll eat my hat if this passes Gold/Silver.

 

[PlayBee]

Here comes the "see your complaints are invalid because the game sold well" brigade

 

[Hero of Legend]

Honestly not huge growth since it was at 17.37 million as of March 31st. Still huge overall, but you'd think especially with Isle of Armor it'd have been bigger.

 

[Bowser]

Well deserved

 

[MattAces]

see your complaints are invalid because the game sold well

 

[Deleted member 37233]

Here comes the "see your complaints are invalid because the game sold well" brigade

Click to shrink...

They aren't invalid. But in my opinion, the game was fun, despite it's flaws (and there were many flaws).

 

[Rodrigues solitaire]

Undeserved

 

[Zyrox]

Wish it wasn't this gen that got these numbers but it is what it is. Congrats to GF/Nintendo.

 

[Serebii]

Honestly not huge growth since it was at 17.37 million as of March 31st. Still huge overall, but you'd think especially with Isle of Armor it'd have been bigger.

Click to shrink...

The growth is over double the growth of all prior games

Here's the growth since ORAS for Apr-June following launch

ORAS: +330,000
SM: +230,000
USUM: +210,000
Let's Go: +350,000

Meanwhile this went up 875,000

 

[King Kingo]

At the very least, I hope the sales success on Switch forces Gamefreak to have better quality control for their next mainline entry.

 

[Couscous]

The game does not deserve it for its quality imo (especially that awful first expansion), but I'm sure the devs worked really hard on this so I'm glad their work pays of.

 

[Serebii]

The game does not deserve it for its quality imo (especially that awful first expansion), but I'm sure the devs worked really hard on this so I'm glad their work pays of.

Click to shrink...

I argue otherwise

 

[Mekanos]

Wonder if they will pass Gold/Silver. They're the worst core Pokemon games for a single player experience, but I guess that's not what they're gonna focus on in the future.

 

[FormatCompatible]

Here comes the "see your complaints are invalid because the game sold well" brigade

Click to shrink...

see your complaints are invalid because the game sold well

Click to shrink...

LMAO

 

[Hero of Legend]

The growth is over double the growth of all prior games

Here's the growth since ORAS for Apr-June following launch

ORAS: +330,000
SM: +230,000
USUM: +210,000
Let's Go: +350,000

Meanwhile this went up 875,000

Click to shrink...

Hmm, I see. I guess this is normal. Guess Animal Crossing obliterating all expectations kind of contributed to my perception there. :P

 

[Couscous]

I argue otherwise

Click to shrink...

Different opinions and all, but I'm also glad the game is doing well. Games selling well whilst they don't have predatory practices is always a win in my eyes.

 

[Farrac]

I imagine these sales are barely affected by the Season Pass, but SwSh does have the extra boost of being supported post-launch and not having a third version to cut their legs.

 

[Gin]

Congrats Nintendo / GameFreak
Still remember the ridiculous amount of complaints Era had for this game ....

I'm glad it did well and hope they can build on it further in the next series

 

[Papertoonz]

man i may not be the biggest fan of SwSh but if it can surpass GS that would be pretty great

 

[Serebii]

Already had people saying "This has DLC so you should combine the games with their enhanced version for full comparison". People do work in mysterious ways to try and discredit the success of SWSH

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Not bad for a fad franchise.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

massive! the games have been a huge success

 

[Kanhir]

Click to shrink...

Do you have numbers on how much Blue sold in Japan?

(It's a constant bugbear of mine that Platinum, Emerald and Crystal are counted separately but Blue is folded in with Red and Green.)

 

[Serebii]

Do you have numbers on how much Blue sold in Japan?

(It's a constant bugbear of mine that Platinum Emerald and Crystal are counted separately but Blue is folded in with Red and Green.)

Click to shrink...

Unfortunately not, but it can't be too high

It was mail-order from CoroCoro only for the first 3 years of its life, then it hit retail a month before Gold & Silver

 

[Couscous]

Already had people saying "This has DLC so you should combine the games with their enhanced version for full comparison". People do work in mysterious ways to try and discredit the success of SWSH

Click to shrink...

That doesn't even make sense since those versions launch at a much later date at a full price and also require loads of people to work on them.

 

[DPT120]

Well deserved, they were fun games

 

[CaviarMeths]

Those legs kind of confirm that this will pass Gold & Silver to be the best selling Pokemon game since the original.

Insanity.

Incidentally, it's also the first game since the original that I completed the Pokedex. Great game.

 

[Aleh]

Pokémon sells disproportionately more during the holidays compared to other series considering people were conditioned to expect a new game every year, so I'm betting on the combination of the meatier half of the DLC and the holidays giving it a real boost

 

[Deleted member 31092]

Too big to fail

 

[cw_sasuke]

That's great to see, can't wait for the second DLC pack later this year.

Makes me wonder what a new generation near the end of the Switch cycle could sell.

 

[Andri]

Legs are strong for a poke game.
Real interresting will be the holiday, since its the first holiday for a pokemon game where there isnt a newer(and often better) version aviable to buy for basically the same price since ORAS.

Anybody know what ORAS sold in the Holiday Quarter of 2015(oct-dec) ?

 

[Future Gazer]

disgusting

 

[srtrestre]

It's only a matter of time before they pass G/S/C.

 

[Wijuci]

I wonder if it will be able to pass Gold and Silver.
5M seems like a lot, but with no other game on the horizon and a possible pack including the full DLC later on, it just might...

 

[LightKiosk]

Great sales numbers

I'll be honest I bought it cause first Nintendo system in a loooong time + Pokemon, but I still have yet to beat all the gyms. Should probably get back to that and check out the DLC.

 

[Serebii]

That doesn't even make sense since those versions launch at a much later date at a full price and also require loads of people to work on them.

Click to shrink...

I know haha, it's not like they added Expansion Pass sales to this number too. People just working at trying to dismiss the success of the game

 

[GamerJM]

Curious how the old GBA/DS games would sell if they just straight up rereleased them on the Switch as is, with no upgrades. I'm honest-to-god convinced Sword/Shield sold this well due to merely being mainline Pokemon on the Switch.

 

[blueredandgold]

That's a lot of Obedient Gamers, huh?

Well done to everybody involved with the games.

I 'only' got it about four months ago or thereabouts (Sword) but am pushing 400+ hours, roughly.

And I've never once battled online. Yet.

 

[Aleh]

That's great to see, can't wait for the second DLC pack later this year.

Makes me wonder what a new generation near the end of the Switch cycle could sell.

Click to shrink...

I'd imagine people will try to buy extra copies just to try to make it sell more than gen 8 out of spite :P

 

[Couscous]

I know haha, it's not like they added Expansion Pass sales to this number too. People just working at trying to dismiss the success of the game

Click to shrink...

The game is undeniably a succes. You really have to be the best at PR spinning to make something else out of it.

 

[Normal]

Ah nice to see good games sell well. :]

 

[Deleted member 10737]

with the DLC and almost certainly no new mainline game releasing until november 2021, the legs on this are gonna be huge

 

[Gengahrrr]

Not a surprise. They're good games despite all the what the most hardcore Pokemon fans will tell you.

Click to shrink...

What was good?

The non-existent story that's crammed into the finale?

The dated graphics and game design?

The continued loss of exploration being further replaced with glorified hallways?

If it wasn't for the promising DLC, shit would be looking bleak. I enjoyed it far more than Sw/Sh.

 

[Wise]

20m lets go

 

[brinstar]

Cool to see. Ranked online has been so fun for this game, can't wait for the next expansion.

Spoiler

nerf rillaboom ;___;

 

[MatrixMan.exe]

Surely it will pass Gold and Silver, just a question if it can beat the OGs. An additional 13 million won't be easy if we get a new Pokemon game next year, but if they're remakes then maybe it still has a shot. Would be cool but seems unlikely?

 

[unicornKnight]

But they would have sold 40 millions if they listened to the community!!!