Not only has Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sold an impressive 10 million combined units within the first three days of launch, they also account for “the highest global sales level for any software on any Nintendo platform” within that time frame.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet launched globally on November 18, 2022, and these sales figures from Nintendo include both packaged and downloadable versions.
The newest entries in the legendary Pokemon franchise mark the second outing of the mainline franchise following Pokemon Sword and Shield. For comparison, Sword and Shield sold over six million units in their first week, which was a record for the fastest-selling Switch title at the time.
The Switch has seen plenty of Pokemon titles since 2017, including Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
These sales numbers were reached despite some glaring technical issues plaguing Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. That being said, the game surrounding these bugs appears to be something special.
In our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet review in progress, we said, “After a few years of experimentation on the Switch, Game Freak has finally stumbled upon an open world formula that successfully reinvents how Pokémon is played, while remaining true to the nostalgic childhood vision of exploration, adventure, and cute monster collecting.”
“It is, in almost every way, the transformation I’ve been waiting for – but the grievously poor performance that has come along with it significantly mars this otherwise exciting design evolution.”
For more, check out our full Pokemon Scarlet and Violet wiki, which includes all the details on the new starters, version differences and exclusives, the new pokemon, our full walkthrough, and things to do first.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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