Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Become Second Best-Selling Games in the Series
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors
Nintendo has just released its latest quarterly financial report, revealing that the latest games in the Pokémon mainline series, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, have risen to the position of second best-selling games in the entire series.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which were released in November 2022, have now sold 26.79 million units, surpassing the previous generation pair of games, which are currently sitting on 26.72 million units sold. The best-selling games in the series remain Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue for the original Game Boy, which have combined sales of over 31 million units.
A player gliding through the region of Paldea on the back of the Legendary Pokémon Koraidon in Pokémon Scarlet.
A player gliding through the region of Paldea on the back of the Legendary Pokémon Koraidon in Pokémon Scarlet.
Nintendo
As noted by Serebii webmaster Joe Merrick, Scarlet and Violet overtaking Sword and Shield is also the first time the second generation of games on a single system – in this case the Nintendo Switch – has outsold the first generation released on the same system.
It's worth noting that this also the first time a second generation on a console has outsold the first
GB
Red, Green & Blue: 31.38m
Gold & Silver: 23.7m
DS
Diamond & Pearl: 17.67m
Black & White: 15.64m
3DS
X & Y: 16.78m
Sun & Moon: 16.33m — Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) May 8, 2025
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were first released on the Nintendo Switch in late 2022, where they received equal parts praise and criticism from media and players alike. Players praised the games for their innovative gameplay improvements, including the addition of a full open world for the first time in the series' history, but they were heavily criticised for performance issues, bugs at launch, and poor visual quality.
The games subsequently received a number of post-launch patches, which reduced the number of bugs experienced by most players, but the poor performance and visual quality remained the same, even after the release of paid DLC in 2023. Nintendo has announced that Scarlet and Violet will be getting updates following the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 which will allow the games to take advantage of the more powerful hardware, but no further details have been announced about these updates.
The milestone comes ahead of the release of a brand-new Pokémon game on both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, Pokémon Legends Z-A, which will take players back to the Kalos region first featured in Pokémon X and Y for the Nintendo 3DS. The new game will take place entirely within the region's major city, Lumiose, and will feature a mix of exploration and real-time battles.
Pokémon Legends Z-A will be released on the Switch and Switch 2 in late 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hypebeast
4 hours ago
- Hypebeast
Everything Announced at the Pokémon World Championships
After three days of nail-biting competition, the 2025Pokémon World Championshipshas officially come to a close in Anaheim, California. Eight new champions were crowned in their respective age brackets and games today, making their mark on competitivePokémonhistory. However, that wasn't all that fans were clamoring Ishihara, president and CEO ofThe Pokémon Company, took the arena stage to present seven trailers full of exciting new Pokémon reveals. Ishihara spared no time in getting into the many announcements he prepared for fans, leading off with what's next inPokémon GO. Various Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon were showcased, leading up to the debut of Eternamax Eternatus. This menacing creature was announced to be arriving first in Anaheim, surrounding the venue after Ishihara's presentation. Mega Evolution has been a focal point once again for everything from thePokémonvideo games to the trading card game. Now, it's set to arrive inPokémon TCG Pocket. This beloved mechanic sees Pokémon evolve to a special stage that brings out a Pokémon's maximum power. ForTCG Pocket, Mega Altaria, Mega Gyarados, and Mega Blaziken are all set to debut. Given the extreme strength of these cards, they will reward three points when knocked out. Get ready, because this new season is set to kick off this fall. Pokémon UNITEhas three new playable Pokémon on the way, as well as a new Boss Pokémon. Fans rejoiced at the sight of Piplup on the jumbotron, with it evolving into Emploeon as a new character dropping on September 19. Dhelmise is hooking its way into the fray while another fan favorite, Vaporeon, is also set to join the game soon. Rounding out the reveal was Groudon, who will be replacing Rayquaza as the main Boss Pokémon. It will offer a massive attack boost and goal scoring speed increase when defeated by teams. Beyond this, a unique twist is that this buff will be transferred to opponents if the buff holder is knocked out by them. Tens of thousands of Pokémon fans amassed in Anaheim this weekend to compete and collect thePokémon TCG. When it came time for it to feature its trailer, there was no shortage of excitement in the arena, especially as Mega Charizard X descended into the mix. Mega Evolution is set to return next month and joining the already revealed Mega Lucario and Mega Gardevoir is not only Mega Charizard X, but the newest addition to the Mega lineup, Mega Dragonite. One of the highlights of the 2025 Pokémon World Championships was the opportunity to play demos of the nextPokémongame,Pokémon Legends: Z-A. We put together acomplete recapof the experience on Friday and there's even more to look forward to now as the Z-A Battle Club was announced. This new four-player game mode remixes the game's Z-A Royale, which involves the player defeating trainers to rank up, from Rank Z to Rank A. Instead of battling NPCs, you can take on friends (and foes). This free-for-all brawl sees trainers try to rack up the as many knockouts as they can within three minutes. It also makes use of the game's real-time battle mechanics and even sees some moves strike an area for the chance to knock out multiple Pokémon at once. A Ranked Battle mode also allows trainers to climb from Rank Z to Rank A, earning in-game rewards in the process. Leading up to the closing announcements, all eyes were onPokémon Champions. This upcoming video game is all about battling, prompting many to wonder if it will have a place at next year's Pokémon World Championships. After a slightly cryptic trailer, Ishihara shared thatChampionswill be replacing the main seriesPokémongames as the platform for the Video Game Championships. The unprecedented move is expected to greatly increase accessibility to competitive play as the teambuilding process will be easier and it is playable on theNintendo Switch,Switch 2, and mobile devices. Looking ahead to 2026, it was already announced that San Francisco would be the next host city at the 2024 World Championships. However, not only will it feature championship Sunday within the Chase Center, which can hold nearly 20,000 people, 2026 will feature the first year ofPokémonXP. This new fan experience will take place alongside the World Championships simultaneously within San Francisco, offering a wide variety of activities for all fans to enjoy. Awebsitefor the event has gone live, sharing that the many panels, workshops, and exclusive merchandise that is typically featured at the World Championships will now have its own dedicated event. Multi-day pass registration begins on September 17, with the event taking place on August 28 through August 30 of 2026.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Games industry in search of new winning combo at Gamescom 2025
The global games industry gathers for the vast Gamescom trade fair in Cologne this week, with hopes that upcoming heavy-hitters like "GTA VI" can help the industry escape its doldrums. Tuesday's opening night event will show off major releases slated for the months ahead, with the starring role going to "Black Ops 7" -- the new instalment in the sprawling "Call of Duty" saga. Trade visitors will have Wednesday to peruse the stands and make connections, before tens of thousands of enthusiastic gamers are unleashed on the vast salon from Thursday to Sunday. Last year's Gamescom drew almost 335,000 people to the Cologne exhibition centre, where studios lay on vast stands with consoles or PCs offering hands-on play with the latest releases. Nintendo is back in 2025 after staying away last year, surfing on record launch sales for its Switch 2 console. And Microsoft's Xbox gaming division will show off new portable hardware expected to be released towards the end of the year. Sony, the Japanese giant behind the PlayStation, has opted out this time around. The mood is mixed for the roughly 1,500 exhibitors attending this year, as major publishers have recently steered back into profitability but the job cuts seen over the past two years continue. In early July, Microsoft said it would lay off around 9,000 people, with hundreds leaving game studios like "Candy Crush" developer King and several games cancelled, including "Perfect Dark" and "Everwild". - Battle for attention - "The industry is consolidating quite a bit" after the bumper years when Covid-19 lockdowns created a captive audience, said Rhys Elliott of specialist games data firm Alinea Analytics. Around 30,000 workers have lost their jobs since early 2023, according to tracking site Games Industry Layoffs -- more than 4,000 of them so far this year. Revenue in the global games market should hold steady at just under $190 billion this year, data firm Newzoo has forecast. The number of players and hours spent with the medium are stable while an ever-expanding number of titles are jostling for attention. And with leviathans like "Roblox" or "Fortnite" swallowing the attention of hundreds of millions of monthly users, "everyone's fighting for a smaller share of that pie," said Circana expert Mat Piscatella. The need to find new audiences has pushed Microsoft's Xbox, the biggest games publisher in the world, to switch strategy, increasingly offering its titles on competing console makers' hardware. "They've had really great success on the PlayStation platform. Sony is making a bunch of money on that too," Piscatella said "It's a little bit of a win-win all the way around." Some PlayStation games are making the trip in the opposite direction, with "Helldivers 2" the first to be made available on Xbox as well as the traditional PC port. - Success on a budget - Shoring up sales is vital in an era where the cost of developing high-spec "AAA" games has mounted into the hundreds of millions of dollars -- exposing studios to massive risk should their games not perform as hoped. But several breakout hits have recently shown that lower-budget games can still win over players with gameplay, story and art style, such as four-million-selling French turn-based battler "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33". "There's a realisation you don't need to spend masses of money to deliver a high-quality game that can appeal broadly and so everyone is rushing towards that model," said Christopher Dring, founder of industry website The Game Business. But "for every 'Clair Obscur' success story, there are 10 games that fail to find an audience at all," Piscatella pointed out. "It's hyper-competitive for those products outside of that big sphere" and smaller developers must fight hard for the funding they need to get games to market. Nor is the cult-hit trend likely to displace the mega-budget mastodons. Analysts predict that Rockstar Games' vast "Grand Theft Auto VI" could notch up the biggest launch for any entertainment product in history. That might be the juice the flagging industry needs to regain some of its mojo. kf/tgb/gv/lb Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Games industry in search of new winning combo at Gamescom 2025
The global games industry gathers for the vast Gamescom trade fair in Cologne this week, with hopes that upcoming heavy-hitters like "GTA VI" can help the industry escape its doldrums. Tuesday's opening night event will show off major releases slated for the months ahead, with the starring role going to "Black Ops 7" -- the new instalment in the sprawling "Call of Duty" saga. Trade visitors will have Wednesday to peruse the stands and make connections, before tens of thousands of enthusiastic gamers are unleashed on the vast salon from Thursday to Sunday. Last year's Gamescom drew almost 335,000 people to the Cologne exhibition centre, where studios lay on vast stands with consoles or PCs offering hands-on play with the latest releases. Nintendo is back in 2025 after staying away last year, surfing on record launch sales for its Switch 2 console. And Microsoft's Xbox gaming division will show off new portable hardware expected to be released towards the end of the year. Sony, the Japanese giant behind the PlayStation, has opted out this time around. The mood is mixed for the roughly 1,500 exhibitors attending this year, as major publishers have recently steered back into profitability but the job cuts seen over the past two years continue. In early July, Microsoft said it would lay off around 9,000 people, with hundreds leaving game studios like "Candy Crush" developer King and several games cancelled, including "Perfect Dark" and "Everwild". - Battle for attention - "The industry is consolidating quite a bit" after the bumper years when Covid-19 lockdowns created a captive audience, said Rhys Elliott of specialist games data firm Alinea Analytics. Around 30,000 workers have lost their jobs since early 2023, according to tracking site Games Industry Layoffs -- more than 4,000 of them so far this year. Revenue in the global games market should hold steady at just under $190 billion this year, data firm Newzoo has forecast. The number of players and hours spent with the medium are stable while an ever-expanding number of titles are jostling for attention. And with leviathans like "Roblox" or "Fortnite" swallowing the attention of hundreds of millions of monthly users, "everyone's fighting for a smaller share of that pie," said Circana expert Mat Piscatella. The need to find new audiences has pushed Microsoft's Xbox, the biggest games publisher in the world, to switch strategy, increasingly offering its titles on competing console makers' hardware. "They've had really great success on the PlayStation platform. Sony is making a bunch of money on that too," Piscatella said "It's a little bit of a win-win all the way around." Some PlayStation games are making the trip in the opposite direction, with "Helldivers 2" the first to be made available on Xbox as well as the traditional PC port. - Success on a budget - Shoring up sales is vital in an era where the cost of developing high-spec "AAA" games has mounted into the hundreds of millions of dollars -- exposing studios to massive risk should their games not perform as hoped. But several breakout hits have recently shown that lower-budget games can still win over players with gameplay, story and art style, such as four-million-selling French turn-based battler "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33". "There's a realisation you don't need to spend masses of money to deliver a high-quality game that can appeal broadly and so everyone is rushing towards that model," said Christopher Dring, founder of industry website The Game Business. But "for every 'Clair Obscur' success story, there are 10 games that fail to find an audience at all," Piscatella pointed out. "It's hyper-competitive for those products outside of that big sphere" and smaller developers must fight hard for the funding they need to get games to market. Nor is the cult-hit trend likely to displace the mega-budget mastodons. Analysts predict that Rockstar Games' vast "Grand Theft Auto VI" could notch up the biggest launch for any entertainment product in history. That might be the juice the flagging industry needs to regain some of its mojo. kf/tgb/gv/lb Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
