Pokémon Sword & Shield is Switch’s fastest-selling game launch
Title surpasses six million sales in its first week
Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield combined are Switch’s fastest-selling game launch to date.
Released on November 15, the titles have surpassed six million combined sales in the first week of availability, according to The Pokémon Company.
Additionally, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield sold just over 2 million copies in the first two days in the US, making it the highest-grossing launch of any Pokémon game in the region.
Sword and Shield is reportedly already Japan’s best-selling game of 2019, having sold some 1.36 million copies in its first three days of availability, according to Famitsu estimates.
It recorded strong opening week sales at UK retail too, with Pokémon Sword alone enjoying the biggest exclusive game launch of the year.
Developed by Game Freak, Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield is the first core entry in the RPG series to be released on a home console.
New features inspired by the franchise’s move from 3DS to Switch include the ability to Dynamax – which makes Pokémon giant in size and boosts their power – and Gigantamax monsters.
Sword and Shield is also the first main entry in the series that doesn’t include every Pokémon, although modders began adding new monsters to the game just days after its release.
About a third of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield’s 300+ person core team contributed to other projects during its development, analysis of the game’s credits reveals.
See what critics though of the game in our Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield review round-up.
