Pokémon Scarlet and Violet released in November 2022, and the latest series entries have already surpassed the Japanese sales of their predecessor, Pokémon Sword and Shield. That’s in just eight weeks. Despite Scarlet and Violet’s launch being met with some criticism over its technical issues, it was still Nintendo’s biggest launch ever, selling ten million units globally within just three days. Despite Sword and Shield being released three years ago, the success of Scarlet and Violet has been unstoppable.
The news was shared on Twitter from Game Data Library, themselves getting retail date from the latest Famitsu charts, which we reported earlier here. The digital sales are not included in Famitsu’s retail data, but it’s a safe bet to assume that they are also very high. We’ll have to wait for official word from Nintendo find out just how big the digital component was, yet the success of Scarlet and Violet is undeniable.
Total retail sales Pokémon Scarlet / Violet in Japan have surpassed those of Pokémon Sword / Shield, that's 8 weeks vs 3 years.
Including digital sales are of at least 6m, but I'd bet they're closer and maybe even over 7m. pic.twitter.com/d9HXq5xu9L
— Game Data Library (@GameDataLibrary) January 12, 2023
The performance issues of Scarlet and Violet had many fans online concerned that the game’s huge sales results would cause inaction from Game Freak on the relatively poor state of the games technically. Thankfully, it was announced earlier today that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Version 1.2 is set to launch in late February, and will feature bug fixes and “added functionality”.
As well as these fixes, a new 7-Star Tera Raid Battle will be will be arriving to Scarlet and Violet later this month. The Pokémon at this point is a mystery, but we know its Tera Type will be Poison. The event will start on Jan. 27 and run to Jan. 29, and then be repeated on Feb. 10 through to Feb. 12. The Pokémon can only be caught once per save file, so grab it while you can.
Have you been enjoying Pokémon Scarlet and Violet? Let us know in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more Pokémon news.
