'Pokémon Legends Arceus' sells 6.5 million copies worldwide in seven days
That puts it ahead of 'Pokémon Sword and Shield' for first week sales.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus has sold 6.5 million copies after just one week on sale, making it one of the fastest-selling Switch games yet, Nintendo announced. If the official figures hold up, the game will have outsold both Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, both of which sold 6 million copies in the first week.
Thank you to the more than 6.5 million explorers worldwide who have already embarked on an exciting new adventure in #PokemonLegendsArceus!
We hope you're loading up on more potato mochi before your next research mission! pic.twitter.com/u1MKRHkhhD— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 4, 2022
That could make Arceus the second-fastest selling Switch title of all time, a big win for an "experimental" game with a far different look and gameplay than mainline Pokémon titles. It doesn't seem likely to catch Animal Cross: New Horizons, however, which sold 11.77 million copies in just 11 days.
As we've detailed before, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an open-world action RPG set in the Sinnoh region long before the events of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and their remakes. The aim of the game is to create the region's first-ever Pokédex, so you need to carry out research tasks to learn more about each Pokémon. The game has generally received decent review scores, and given that it's part of one of the biggest media franchises on the planet, its success is not a huge surprise.
