Dexit what now?
Ahead of the launch of Pokémon Sword and Shield, a certain part of the pocket monster fandom was up in arms regarding various omissions and design choices in Game Freak’s latest game. Dubbed Dexit, the wailing of the damned unhappy was mostly attributed to a small fraction of players who had decided to draw a line in the sand, cross their arms in a huff and refuse to journey to the Galar region for the latest Pokémon journey.
If you ever needed an example of how small that fandom really was, then the latest sales numbers for Pokémon should paint a clear picture as to just how effective their boycott was. Nintendo recently posted some impressive numbers for Pokémon Sword and Shield, as the twin games have now sold over 16 million units since their launch in November, from the period of November 15 to December 31.
That’s a staggering number, which has already eclipsed the last mainline Pokémon generation of games, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Those numbers have also beaten the sales set by the first proper Pokémon games to appear on the Nintendo 3DS many moons ago, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y. Considering how Pokémon usually has a massive surge in purchases within the first weeks of release and continues to maintain that momentum with steady sales over several years, it looks like Sword and Shield is well on its way to reaching the upper echelon of top-selling Pokémon games.
For the sake of comparison, here’s a quick look at the lifetime sales of the main entries in the franchise:
- Green/Red/Blue: 31.38 million
- Yellow: 14.64 million
- Gold/Silver: 23.10 million
- Crystal: 6.39 million
- Ruby/Sapphire: 16.22 million
- FireRed/LeafGreen: 11.82 million
- Emerald: 7.06 million
- Diamond/Pearl: 17.64 million
- Platinum: 7.69 million
- HeartGold/SoulSilver: 12.72 million
- Black/White: 15.62 million
- Black 2/White 2: 8.52 million
- X/Y: 16.06 million
- Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire: 13.68 million
- Sun/Moon: 14.69 million
16 million sales in a mere month and a half. Staggering stuff and proof that Nintendo truly does own a license to print money. Kind of makes sense now to see just how keen the Big N is on developing those massive expansions for Pokémon Sword and Shield.
Last Updated: January 30, 2020
Kromas
January 30, 2020 at 09:42
Sigh. I am sorry guys. As much as IO hate Pokemon I did buy shield and will most likely buy the expansion dlc.
Geoffrey Tim
January 30, 2020 at 10:06
It’s okay to buy good things.
Kromas
January 30, 2020 at 10:54
Shield was the worst pokemon ever in the series.
Assuming sword is the same cause it is the same game.
In fact I am replaying Let’s go Pikachu instead of finishing Shield.
Chris
January 30, 2020 at 09:47
They wanted to be the very best, like no one was before…