Out of Birth in 1996 for Nintendo’s portable Game Boy, Pokémon has become to this day one of the most famous IPs on the planet, even for those who don’t play video games. A few years ago, a report claimed that Pokémon was the most valuable saga in history Total sales of more than $100 billion. To get an idea of yours colossal successjust look at the global sales data collected in mid-2022, when the franchise sold more than 440 million games worldwide.
As a matter of fact, Pokémon is unstoppable and it seems he still has a long way to go. Although in reality it is game by game and delivery by delivery Their sales fluctuated quite a bit.. It’s very curious to make one comparative We will therefore assume the sales of each title in the saga below a look up Video games sold less and less from the popular series by Game Freak.
This is the ranking of the best-selling Pokémon games across the entire franchise
use as Trusted source of the data is Wikipedia page and that Official Nintendo reportNowadays we know that This is the sales ranking of all major games of the Pokémon franchise that have hit the market without counting Spin-offs (except Pokémon Arceus Legends):
| # | Game | Ao | Worldwide distribution | platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pokémon Red and Blue | nineteen ninety-six | 31.37 million | GameBoy |
| 2 | Pokémon Sword and Shield | 2019 | 26.02 million | Nintendo Switch |
| 3 | Pokémon Gold and Silver | 1999 | 23.73 million | Game Boy Color |
| 4 | Pokémon Scarlet and Purple | 2022 | 23.23 million | Nintendo Switch |
| 5 | Pokémon Diamond and Pearl | 2006 | 17.67 million | Nintendo DS |
| 6 | Pokémon X/Y | 2013 | 16.45 million | Nintendo 3DS |
| 7 | Pokémon Rub and Sapphire | 2002 | 16.22 million | Game Boy Advance |
| 8th | Pokémon Sun and Moon | 2016 | 16.18 million | Nintendo 3DS |
| 9 | Pokémon Black and White Edition | 2010 | 15.64 million | Nintendo DS |
| 10 | Pokémon: Let’s go, Pikachu! / Let’s go, Eevee! | 2018 | 15.07 million | Nintendo Switch |
| eleven | Pokémon Shiny Diamond / Shimmering Pearl | 2021 | 14.92 million | Nintendo Switch |
| 12 | Pokémon Legends Arceus | 2022 | 14.83 million | Nintendo Switch |
| 13 | Pokémon Yellow | 1998 | 14.64 million | GameBoy |
| 14 | Pokémon Rub Omega & Alpha Sapphire | 2014 | 14.27 million | Nintendo 3DS |
| fifteen | Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver | 2009 | 12.72 million | Nintendo DS |
| 16 | Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen | 2004 | 12 million | Game Boy Advance |
| 17 | Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon | 2017 | 8.77 million | Nintendo 3DS |
| 18 | Pokémon Black and White Edition 2 | 2012 | 7.63 million | Nintendo DS |
| 19 | Pokémon Platinum | 2008 | 7.06 million | Nintendo DS |
| twenty | Pokémon Crystal | 2000 | 6.39 million | Game Boy Color |
| twenty-one | Pokémon Emerald | 2004 | 6.32 million | Game Boy Advance |
First, it is striking From this classification that crowns the podium we find the first video game which marked the debut of the saga. And that’s it Pokémon Red and Blue remains in place to this day (more than two decades later). best-selling title of all intellectual property rights with 31 million copies sold.
Although the franchise continued to grow, evolve and be sold on successive very popular Nintendo consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, Game Freak has failed to attract more players in no other delivery. Of course, this is without taking into account the massive bombing raids that occurred Pokémon GOHe free game Augmented reality for mobile phones from Niantic that we all know and that was downloaded more than 700 million just. In addition, it is the game in the saga that has the most Pokémon to catch.
As we continue with the ranking breakdown, it is also interesting to note this the deliveries that worked the worst On a commercial level, it was always those who were released for a new console was available from Nintendo. We refer to the case of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (12 million units), released on the Game Boy Advance when the Nintendo DS was already on the market, Pokémon Black and White 2 (7.6 million units, the worst data the entire series for a main part) that came out for Nintendo DS while the Nintendo 3DS was already on sale and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon (8.7 million units), released for the latter laptop a few months after the launch of Nintendo Switch.
In addition to these strange details, as is obvious, Pseudo-sequels or “improved episodes”Guy Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Crystal, Pokémon Emerald either Pokémon Platinumwere sold over time about half units as the main supplies.
Despite a Decline in sales one of the main parts of the Nintendo portable consoles, the Pokémon saga has taken flight in his last games for Nintendo Switch.
With these peak sales we can see the commercial performance of the Pokmon franchise has had its ups and downsalthough its main titles have reached a high level in recent years, with Pokémon Sword and Shield and the latest Pokémon Scarlet and Purple exceeded the 20 million mark of games sold, which hasn’t happened remotely Pokémon Gold and Silver. No doubt that’s probably because they both did An important change, of course for the IP that many fans have been demanding for a long time and offers larger worlds and 3D graphics. Not to mention that they are available Nintendo Switchthe Japanese hybrid that has managed to sneak into more than 130 million homes around the world and will be the third best-selling console of all time.
The big question now The same applies to the next parts of the Game Freak series You will be able to reinvent yourself and continue to sell so well, especially as time goes on definitely criticized by the community given its shortcomings and numerous technical issues.
