Pokemon Sword and Shield sell 6 million copies

Today it was revealed that the latest Pokemon games, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, have sold 6 million units worldwide after an incredible launch. The games sold 6 million units in their opening weekend, meaning it could be far more by now.

As a result of such a successful launch, Pokemon Sword and Shield are now one of the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch games of all time. In the US, 2 million copies of Pokemon Sword and Shield were sold during the opening weekend, making it the highest grossing launch of any Pokemon game in history.

With the launch of Sword and Shield, the mainline Pokemon RPG series has now sold over 240 million units since the launch of Pokemon Red and Blue in 1996.

In the lead up to launch, many critics and reviewers were extremely critical of the latest Pokemon games. It was found that some Pokemon models were reused from older games, and in preview videos certain visual elements didn’t appear to be as finished as was expected.

However, none of this bad press seems to have affected the sales of these games. Sword and Shield are even reported to have provided a boost to Nintendo Switch console sales, pushing them up by 30 percent, as more gamers invest in the system specifically for the new Pokemon games.

Compared to previous Pokemon games, Sword and Shield are performing quite well. Pokemon X and Y sold 4 million units in their opening weekend, which Sword and Shield have already managed to beat.

Pokemon Sun and Moon, one of the fastest-selling games in Nintendo’s history, sold 7.2 million units in the first two weeks on sale. With 6 million units sold in six days, Pokemon Sword and Shield stand to beat Sun and Moon’s record within two days, and could top 10 million units sold by the end of the week.

It’s worth noting that digital sales have never been more popular than they are today. Digital sales have definitely helped Pokemon Sword and Shield, and may even make the games more accessible to those who can’t purchase physical copies.