Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Now the Third Best-Selling Pokemon Games Ever

Nintendo released its third quarter financial results this morning, including updated sales data for the top 10 selling first-party Switch games. Pokemon Sword and Shield represent the best-selling Pokemon game on the list, and the overall second best-selling game in franchise history, with 26.17 million units sold. However, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is quickly catching up; the game now sits at 24.36 million units sold. As noted by Serebii’s Joe Merrick, that number now puts it ahead of Pokemon Gold and Silver‘s 23.7 million, making it the third best-selling game in the franchise. 

The Nintendo Switch era has been very good to the Pokemon franchise, but it remains to be seen whether Pokemon Sword and Shield or Scarlet and Violet can manage to catch up to the number one game on the list. Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue sit at a cumulative 31.38 million copies sold. More than 25 years after its release, the first Pokemon generation remains untouched in terms of sales. However, with Scarlet and Violet selling so well just over a year after launch, it’s possible we could see Gen 9 take the throne, despite the game’s bugs and performance issues. 

The Next Pokemon Generation

The story of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet came to its conclusion last month with the release of the game’s DLC epilogue. It’s likely Game Freak is well into development on the tenth Pokemon generation, but we probably won’t learn any details about it until next year. That would be in keeping with the franchise’s current release schedule, which is about three years between new generations. In the years between, fans are normally treated to things like spin-offs and remakes of past games in the series. During these breaks, fans used to see third versions of games (like Pokemon Yellow), but The Pokemon Company started releasing DLC instead. As of this writing, there have been no new Pokemon games announced for 2024, but with this being an “off year,” it’s more likely that we’ll see a remake, or a game like Pokemon Legends: Arceus, as opposed to a new generation. 

Pokemon Day 2024

Pokemon Red and Green released in Japan on February 27th, 1996, and The Pokemon Company celebrates that with a yearly event called Pokemon Day. Pokemon Day is usually accompanied by a digital presentation on or around that date. This is when the company makes new game announcements, while also providing updates about existing games like Pokemon Go and Pokemon Unite. We have yet to hear any announcement about this year’s event, or how long the digital presentation will last, but it’s a safe bet we’ll hear more in the next week or two. Until then, fans will just have to speculate about what’s planned next for the series! 

Are you surprised by how well Pokemon Scarlet and Violet has sold? Do you think it will overtake Red, Green, and Blue? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!