Pokémon Sword and Shield released and took the top of UK charts

Pokemon Sword and Shield saw some impressive physical sales in the UK for their launch weekend. Pokemon Sword is at the top of the best selling games for the past week, and has become the best selling exclusive title of 2019 so far.

Pokemon Sword is also the third biggest physical launch of any game for 2019 so far, with only FIFA 20 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ahead of it. Considering that Pokemon Sword is only available on one platform, this is still a very impressive launch.

Pokemon Shield is third in the chart this week, with the double pack, containing both new Pokemon games, listed in seventh place. For easier understanding GamesIndustry.biz has combined the sales for all three Pokemon products into one, making analysis a little easier.

Combined, Pokemon Sword and Shield have become the second biggest Pokemon launch of all time, and sold 33 percent more units than Pokemon Black and White for Nintendo DS. The games also sold 53 percent more copies than Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee and Pikachu, which are also available on Nintendo Switch.

Pokemon Sword and Shield’s success couldn’t outshine that of Pokemon Sun and Moon however. The games launches when Pokemon Go was at its peak, and represent the biggest UK Pokemon launch in history. Pokemon Sword and Shield sold 39 percent fewer copies than the 3DS behemoths.

It’s worth noting that digital sales aren’t included in data for Nintendo game sales. Pokemon Sun and Moon also launched on a Wednesday, giving them two more days of sales than Sword and Shield have had for this week’s chart. Finally, Pokemon Sword and Shield have been the subject of heavy criticism in the lead up to launch, while Sun and Moon saw a much more favorable reception.

EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order launched in second place in the chart, showing a strong start for the new Star Wars game. The game saw the fourth biggest physical launch of 2019 so far. While sales were 33 percent lower than the previous Star Wars game, Battlefront 2, EA explained that since this is a story-driven adventure, they have lower expectations. 66 percent of boxed sales were for PlayStation4, and the remaining 34 were for Xbox One.

The only other new title in the top 40 was Terminator Resistance, which debuted in 38th in the chart.

Death Stranding saw a drop in sales of 71 percent week-on-week, falling from second to eighth, and Need for Speed: Heat saw a drop of 58 percent week-on-week, falling to 11th place. On the other hand, Mario & Sonic At The Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 saw a rise in sales of 12 percent week-on-week, but still dropped from eighth to tenth place in the chart.

A more extended list of top sellers can be found here.