Pokemon Sword and Shield will soon be third best selling Pokemon title

Pokemon Sword and Shield is slowly ascending the ranks of the all time best selling Pokemon games. Officially it is the fourth best selling but in reality it is probably already the third.

According to Nintendo, Pokemon Sword and Shield has sold 17.37 million units on the Switch. This puts it ever so slightly behind the ever popular Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games with 17.67 million units.

The Gen 4 games are so popular there has even been rumors of a Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remake. This is something that the Pokemon Company may have even hinted at themselves.

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However, the latest generation of games is coming for its third place mantle. With six weeks having passed since the latest sales figures release, it’s reasonable to assume Sword and Shield have done the extra 300,000 sales to topple Gen 4.

Gen 1 and Gen 2 still at the top

The games placed at number one and two will surprise few. Pokemon Gold and Silver falls in second place with a reported 23.1 million unit sales.

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If you include Pokemon Crystal and Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver (remakes from 2009) then this number sky rockets to 42.21 million sales. However, many would argue this wouldn’t be a fair representation.

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Of course, the best selling Pokemon games to date remain the ones that kicked the entire franchise off – Pokemon Red, Blue (and Green).

It is fair to include Green in this comparison as this was essentially Pokemon Blue in Japan when it released two years before the west in 1996. Between these three they have sold 31.38 million copies.

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If you add the remakes and additional variations of these classics – Pokemon Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen, and resales on the Nintendo 3DS – then this number gets to an astronomical 59.52 million. No wonder Pokemon is the powerhouse it is today.

Here’s the full list units sold up to 31 March, 2020:

• Pokemon Red, Blue and Green: 31.38 million
• Pokemon Gold and Silver: 23.10 million
• Pokemon Diamond and Pearl: 17.67 million
• Pokemon Sword and Shield: 17.37 million
• Pokemon X and Y: 16.45 million