Pokemon Sword and Shield Breaks Another Sales Milestone

Pokemon Sword and Shield has broken another sales milestone, solidifying its place as one of the best-selling Pokemon games in history. Nintendo released their quarterly earnings report earlier today, which revealed that Pokemon Sword and Shield sold an additional 1.3 million units over the previous three months. That means that Pokemon Sword and Shield has now broken over 20 million in sales, the first set of Pokemon games to do so since Pokemon Gold and Silver. The games are the third best-selling Pokemon games in franchise history, trailing only Pokemon Red and Blue (31.4 million copies sold) and Pokemon Gold and Silver (23.1 million copies sold.)

Pokemon Sword and Shield's impressive post-launch sales are at least partially due to the release of two DLC additions, making the games the first Pokemon games to receive post-launch add-ons. Last fall, Game Freak released a deluxe version of Pokemon Sword and Shield that came with the expansion packs included. The re-release, coupled with the holiday season, is likely why the games had such a strong performance nearly a year after their debut.

While Pokemon Sword and Shield debuted to some controversy due to Game Freak's decision not to have the game support every Pokemon, the games have mostly won over fans over the past year thanks to the expansive Wild Areas that feature shifting content and the DLC which has greatly bolstered gameplay experience. The DLC in particular brought back several popular features from past Pokemon games, including the ability to have a Pokemon follow you outside of battle, and also added over 300 Pokemon species to Pokemon Sword and Shield post-launch.

The strong sales certainly seem to justify Game Freak's design decisions on Pokemon Sword and Shield, and it'll be interesting to what sort of tweaks get made to gameplay during the next set of games.

The Pokemon franchise as a whole is getting ready to celebrate its 25th anniversary later this month with a ton of new merchandise and games. The festivities will kick off later this spring with the release of New Pokemon Snap, and the Pokemon UNITE MOBA game is also expected for release later this year. In addition to a ton of new merchandise and a musical collaboration with pop star Katy Perry, The Pokemon Company is also expected to announce a new set of Pokemon games - likely a remake of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl that will be released in the fall.