Early sales data for Pokemon Legends: Arceus is starting to come in, and it seems the Nintendo Switch game is off to a very big start. According to Christopher Dring of GamesIndustry.biz, Legends: Arceus had the fourth best launch the series has ever seen in the UK. No exact sales figures have been given, and this only accounts for physical copies. However, the game had a bigger debut than last year’s Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and it’s also the fastest-selling Pokemon game where there wasn’t a second version, beating out a 22-year-old record set by Pokemon Yellow on Game Boy Color.ย
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Dring’s Tweets about the accomplishment can be found embedded below.
In a follow-up Tweet, Dring went on to say that physical sales for Pokemon Legends: Arceus were so strong in the UK that it “accounted for almost 50% of every boxed game sold” over the last week. That’s an incredible accomplishment, particularly since the game offers a number of big changes from the traditional Pokemon formula. It was very difficult to gauge how well the game would perform so closely after the release of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but proximity clearly didn’t play a factor.
It will be interesting to see how well Legends: Arceus performs in the long run! Pokemon games tend to have strong legs, and first-party Nintendo games in particular continue to find a lot of success. Pokemon Sword and Shield and Pokemon: Let’s Go are currently the fifth and eighth best-selling games on Nintendo Switch, respectively. Given the extremely positive critical reception Legends: Arceus has seen over the last week, it’s possible the game could even surpass its predecessors. Hopefully, Nintendo won’t wait too long before providing some concrete sales figures, particularly for North America. Either way, this is a very good sign for the game, and the series as a whole!
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now, exclusively on NintendoSwitch. Readers can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.
Have you played Pokemon Legends: Arceusyet? What do you think of the game so far? Let us knowin thecomments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
