November of 2019 has seen what is perhaps the year’s most highly-anticipated release: new Pokémon! Everyone expected Nintendo to dominate in sales with this release. However, Pokémon Sword & Shield have blown those expectations out of the water! Here’s a one-week retrospective on this groundbreaking release.
In just the first two days after the release, Pokémon generation 8 sold 2 million copies in the US alone. Furthermore, worldwide sales between the two games have now exceeded 6 million units, after one full week!
Big Shoes to Fill
Certainly, Pokémon has always dominated the market when a title is released, right? Right! In actuality, however, Pokémon Sword & Shield have taken the title for the highest-grossing opening week out of every release in the series! In fact, Pokémon generation 8 games are among the fastest-selling titles in Switch history!
GameFreak’s beautifully-rendered journey through the Galar region has captured fans’ hearts already, after just one week. Throughout the history of the franchise, Pokémon games have sold over 240 million units in total, and Pokémon Sword & Shield are shaping up to be some of the strongest contributors. And with good reason!
Reception
Initially, there was some controversy over the release of these titles. Some fans were quite upset by the fact that the Galar region would be the first title not to feature a national Pokédex. However, it seems that this design choice didn’t deter very many gamers.
Despite the region’s lack of a national dex, the cast of new Pokémon is some of the most fun and unique that the series has seen in ages! The old faces which were still included in the games are also some of the most loved. And the art, character customization and player-to-player interaction of these games are definitely the best that the series has seen so far!
Be sure to stay tuned for more news about Pokémon Sword & Shield!
