Despite strong opinions over the latest entries in the Pokemon series, this dynamax of a franchise earns the big bucks, according to the latest from the UK boxed charts.
Pokemon Sword and Shield had an extremely solid debut this weekend. According to The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment, Pokémon Sword took the lead as the more popular of the two versions, while Pokemon Shield landed in third. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which also launched the same day, beat Pokémon Shield.
Once more, Pokemon proves to be the highest-grossing entertainment franchise of all time, although Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order still performed admirably. For Pokémon Sword and Shield, this marks the second-largest launch for the series in the UK, with Sun and Moon still the top sellers, according to gameindustry.biz.
It is important to note that this is just physical sales in these charts. All the digital sales on the Nintendo eShop do not count towards these charts, and digital sales have been increasing significantly in the years between Sword and Shield and Sun and Moon. In 2016, when Sun and Moon were released, digital sales made up roughly 74% of sales, while in 2018 that total was 83%.
Still, the UK charts is a good measure of how well a game sold there, and in other parts of the world, as well. Since Pokémon Sword and Shield performed well in the UK, it is also likely to have performed admirably in the United States, too. This does, of course, come after much outcry over these two titles.
Many voiced concerns on social media over Dexit. Hundreds of Pokémon were cut from the final product, which is a first for an entry in the mainline series. Datamining showed that models of Pokémon are very similar to those from the 3DS versions, with additional lighting and touchups.
Regardless, it seems that cries for boycotting and trending Twitter tags such as #GameFreakLied couldn't make much of a dent in Pokémon Sword and Shield's sales. Whether the next entry in the franchise can follow suit, only time will tell.
Quick Take
I can't say I'm surprised that Sword and Shield sold well. While I certainly understand the frustrations of many fans - and in many ways agree with them - I don't think their voice is as loud as they think. Furthermore, I'm enjoying it as much as any other entry to the series, so while I'm unhappy with some of the exclusions in Sword and Shield, I certainly don't regret my purchase.
