The News

In a recent tweet from their official Japanese account, GameFreak announced that Pokemon Sword and Shield is the fastest-selling Switch game ever. While global sales topped six million copies in just three days, the latest Pokemon game sold more than 1.35 million copies in Japan alone. According to Famitsu, this also makes Sword and Shield the fastest-selling Switch game in Japan.

Nintendo Switchソフト史上最速・最多！ 『ポケットモンスター ソード・シールド』が、発売初週で世界販売本数600万本を突破したよ！ https://t.co/5Qp4uTJbeT #ポケモン剣盾 pic.twitter.com/Vlb5HJSBcw

— ポケモン公式ツイッター (@Pokemon_cojp) November 21, 2019

Pokemon Sword and Shield Analysis

While Pokemon’s launch numbers are impressive, fans should be excited for one reason and leery for another. We will start off with the good news: While this latest installment is the fastest selling Switch title, Pokemon is also driving Switch console sales in Japan.

• In only three days, the latest Pokemon game is already the eighth-best selling Switch game of all time.
• Prior to the Pokemon release, Switch console sales in Japan exceeded 100,000 units just once in the past six quarters. Sales continue to stall despite the release of Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Super Mario Maker 2, etc…
• In only six weeks into the fiscal quarter, Nintendo sold over 180,000 Switch consoles in Japan and exceeded 10 million units overall.

While the Switch console sales in Japan are exciting, fans should be leery of the Pokemon sales data. Sword and Shield have a ways to go in comparison to the Red and Blue versions from the Game Boy.

• The original Pokemon games remain the best-selling in the franchise with over 31 million units sold.
• Average sales since the Game Boy era are between 15 and 17 million units.
• In order to become the best-selling Pokemon game since the Game Boy era, Sword and Shield will need to surpass the Switch’s current best-selling title: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Conclusion

While fans should be excited about Pokemon’s success, the game still has a lot of ground to cover. Holiday sales will likely dictate Sword and Shield’s success in light of prior installments.

But we want to know what you think. If you are excited about the Pokemon Sword and Shield release? Will you purchase the game during the holiday season? Let us know in the comments below or the social media links on the right. Be sure to check out our other news items on Modern Warfare, Capcom, Blizzard and more. Until next time, enjoy!