After only a few days since Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl hit the major milestone of over 13 million dollars in sales since they were released in November, Pokemon Legends Arceus has been announced to have put up some impressive numbers of its own in only seven days. Pokemon Legends Arceus has put up roughly half of the sales of Diamond and Pearl, selling 6.5 million units in that short timeframe.
Previously it had been reported by Famitsu that Legends Arceus had already put up impressive numbers in Japan, selling 1.43 million copies in under three days, beating out the last two mainline Pokemon entries. While this number is impressive, it still lagged behind Animal Crossing: New Horizons which was the fastest-selling game on the Switch in that period, selling 1.88 million.
Nintendo took the time to celebrate this accomplishment through a post on Twitter:
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
Pokemon Legends Arceus, despite being a spin-off set in the feudal era of the Sinnoh region when it was known as the Hisui region, offers an open-world experience that fans of the series have long been asking for. Pokemon roam the open area maps and can be caught and battled in real-time. Abilities like flying and swimming also play out in real-time with vast areas to explore using the abilities.
Based on these sales numbers, the game has really resonated with the fanbase which was to be expected given how long fans have been asking for something like this. While spin-offs have been a common occurrence since the franchise launched, this is the first time one has acted as a major competitor to the mainline entries.
It is unclear yet if Pokemon Legends Arceus has actively diminished sales of the Diamond and Pearl as more people gravitate to this new take on the series. It will be interesting to see its sales numbers moving forward as Legends Arceus already seems destined for the switch top-10 list.
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