Pokémon Sword and Shield Are the Fastest-Selling Switch Games Ever, With 6 Million Copies Sold
Paolo Sirio
Pokémon Sword and Shield have sold 6 million units worldwide, achieving the title of the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game ever, according to a new report from The Pokemon Company International.
The announcement, originally posted in Japanese [PDF], also highlights that sales in Japan have been especially strong, with 2 million units sold in the first week. This confirms that, despite several controversies leading up to its release—fans have pointed to lack of innovation, the exclusion of many Pokémon, underwhelming graphics, and even the recycling of assets and animations from past iterations—the newest Pokémon games have so far succeeded in terms of sales.
The fastest-selling-game achievement is particularly noteworthy because it eclipses several landmark titles that launched with the system in early 2017, including Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and even surpasses sales of the most recent champion, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which garnered immense hype from fans and moved 5 million copies its first week.
The latest entries in the Pokémon series on Switch, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, sold a combined 3 million copies worldwide on their release. And while those were rehashes of previously released games, not completely new entries in the series, the two have gone on to sell 11.28 million copies, according to Nintendo. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, meanwhile, has sold 15.71 million copies worldwide, while the Switch’s all-time sales leader, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, has moved just over 19 million units. This all points to immense ongoing success for Sword and Shield, which are now poised to take a top spot as one of the best selling Switch games of all time.
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