Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Pokémon Sword and Shield blow past franchise launch record

By

Pokémon Sword and Shield may have found themselves at the center of controversy surrounding missing Pokémon from previous games, but that hasn’t stopped the two titles from setting new sales records for the series. The Switch-exclusive games have managed to have the highest-grossing launch weekend in Pokémon history, and plenty of players are trying to catch ’em all.

Nintendo revealed that Pokémon Sword and Shield combined to become the highest-grossing launch in the series, with more than 6 million units sold worldwide. Among those sold, 2 million were sold in the United States, where the Nintendo Switch has continued to perform well since it first released in 2017.

Recommended Videos

The 6 million units figure makes the games among the bestselling titles on the entire Switch platform. The Let’s Go games have sold slightly over 11 million units to date, but we anticipate this figure being demolished by Sword and Shield in little time. Only Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild have a chance to sell more copies.

Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield - Overview Trailer - Nintendo Switch

With the new milestone, the core Pokémon role-playing games — which includes games like Red, Gold, Diamond, X, and Sun — have sold more than 240 million units to date. It’s an almost unfathomable figure, but one that is certainly appropriate for a franchise that has become such a cultural phenomenon. Alongside the main games and their many spin-off titles, the series features cards, anime series, anime films, and the live-action Pokémon: Detective Pikachu film.

Related

Pokémon Sword and Shield are the first main games in the series to release for a home console, albeit a hybrid system like Nintendo Switch. The worlds are fully realized in 3D, with special “Wild” areas also giving you complete control of the camera while you explore and catch new monsters. Random battles are also gone, with the Pokémon available to catch either walking around or hiding in a grassy area to ambush you. Despite this, many classic elements like gym battles and evolutions still remain in place, and its role-playing mechanics are far deeper than last year’s Pokémon: Let’s Go game, which ditched wild battles for something more akin to the Pokémon Go catching system.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Pokémon showed why it’s still unstoppable in 2022
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet protagonist holding glowing Poke Ball

Remember Temtem, the monster-taming MMO that got its 1.0 release earlier this year? Don't feel too bad if you don't.

What was once hailed as the "Pokémon killer" officially launched in September too little fanfare. Despite the initial spike in interest after its early access release, it didn't quite reach the cultural status of the game it was trying to build on. Meanwhile, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet broke records as Nintendo's fastest-selling games of all time, despite being the most heavily criticized entries in the series' history due to performance issues and glitches. Not even bad press could keep Pikachu down.

Read more
After 25 seasons, Ash Ketchum is retiring from Pokémon
Ash holds a Pokeball while a lot of iconic Pokemon stand behind him.

The Pokémon Company confirmed that Ash Ketchum will no longer be the main protagonist of the series' anime starting in 2023.
Ever since Pokémon! I Choose You! first aired in Japan on April 1, 1997, the Pokémon anime has followed the exploits of 10-year-old Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum on his quest to become Pokémon Master. After trying and failing many times across 25 seasons, Ash finally managed to become the world's greatest Pokémon trainer in Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series after winning the Pokémon World Coronation Series.
The Pokémon Company is deciding to leave Ash's journey on a high note and will retire his character as the protagonist of the Pokémon anime after the current season. Thankfully, he is getting a proper send-off across the final 11 episodes of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, with classic anime characters like Misty and Brock returning to help tell "the final chapter in Ash and Pikachu's story." These final 11 episodes will start airing in Japan on January 13, 2023.
This won't be the end of Pokémon anime adaptions, though; The Pokémon Company will start a new series later next year, following two new characters named Liko and Roy. Details on this new series are still scarce, but we know it will also feature Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, and a Shiny Rayquaza in significant roles. We're likely to see them venture through Paldea, the region Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are set in.
While the announcement that Ash Ketchum will no longer be the protagonist of the Pokémon series is bittersweet for those of us who grew up with the Pokémon anime, we can hope that the series will give him a beautiful farewell, and that Liko and Roy's series can successfully capture the hearts of a whole new generation of Pokémon fans. 

Read more
We need to talk about Pokémon Violet and Scarlet’s funniest evolution
Pokemon trainer and team in Scarlet and Violet.

Like each mainline game in the series, Pokémon Violet and Scarlet introduce a whole batch of new monsters for trainers to catch. Those include fresh faces like Pawmot and Bombirdier, as well as new Paldean variants of classics like Wooper and Tauros. They even add some new evolutions for old monsters like Primeape and Bisharp.

There are plenty of excellent designs to highlight, but we need to talk about its absolute goofiest one: Dudunsparce.

Read more