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[reksveks]

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is the latest video game to post huge launch sales in the UK.

It is the biggest boxed game launch of the year, with opening week sales up 4% compared with FIFA 23 (the previous biggest).

In fact, in terms of units, it is the second biggest Pokémon launch of all time, behind Pokémon Sun and Moon on the 3DS. Sun and Moon arrived during a period of huge interest in the series following the release of the smartphone game Pokémon Go (way back in 2016)

According to GfK, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet actually generated more money during its launch week compared with Sun and Moon. The average selling price was £35 for Sun and Moon compared with £48 for Scarlet and Violet.

Note: This data is purely boxed retail data. Download figures are not available for Nintendo games.

The Violet version accounted for 52% of sales, while Scarlet accounted for 42%, and the double pack featuring both games made up the remaining 6%.

Scarlet and Violet's first week sales are 36% bigger than the previous 'new generation' Pokémon release, Sword and Shield, which launched on Switch in November 2019. It's also 70% bigger than last year's Diamond and Pearl remakes and 56% bigger than January's Pokémon Legends: Arceus

The launch of Pokémon has also boosted sales of Switch consoles, GfK says. Switch hardware sales rose 62% week-on-week, led by the OLED model. It is the biggest week of the year so far for Nintendo Switch console sales.

Pokémon takes the headlines just a week after the huge launch of God of War: Ragnarok on PS4 and PS5. Sony's game drops to No.4 this time after a sales fall of 73% week-on-week.

Last week's other new release, Sonic Frontiers, drops from No.4 to No.10 due to a 64% fall in sales.

There was one other new release in the charts: The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me, which debuts at No.16. The Bandai Namco horror title actually sold a little better than last year's House of Ashes.

Elsewhere, a number of PlayStation games jumped in sales due to pricing activity at major retailers. The Last of Us Part 2 re-enters the charts at No.18 due to a deal that saw the game drop below £10. Spider-Man: Miles Morales re-enters at No.26 (sales up 292%), Gran Turismo 7 is back at No.30 (sales up 228%), and The Last of Us Part 1 returns at No.38 (sales up 454%).

Here is the GfK UK Boxed Top Ten for the week ending November 20:

Last Week	This Week	Title
New Entry	1	Pokémon Violet
New Entry	2	Pokémon Scarlet
2	3	FIFA 23
1	4	God of War Ragnarok
2	5	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
New Entry	6	Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Dual Pack
7	7	Horizon: Forbidden West
5	8	Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
6	9	Nintendo Switch Sports
4	10	Sonic Frontiers

Source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/pokem...st-pokemon-launch-of-all-time-uk-boxed-charts

 

[ADiTAR]

I wish we got actual numbers. I don't understand the secrecy, every other industry divulges their numbers.

Also, considering this is just physical, it's safe to assume it's the biggest launch including digital.

 

[Valedix]

And people wonder why Gamefreak continues to ship out unfinished games

 

[Robb]

Maybe they’ll use all this money to actually improve the next one.

Spoiler

 

[Chukhopops]

The fact it’s beating everyone else without even including download sales is insane.

This is going to blow up around Christmas.

 

[reksveks]

I wish we got actual numbers. I don't understand the secrecy, every other industry divulges their numbers.

The guys at IBF using the Fifa numbers and its estimates means that pokemon was around 228-230k physical units.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Maybe they’ll use all this money to actually improve the next one.

Switch Next is not going to limit GameFreak's vision next time

They're going all out with the next Pokemon

 

[Mr Moose]

The fact it’s beating everyone else without even including download sales is insane.

Well yeah, it's a physical sales thread.

 

[Spaceman292]

Cool. It's probably the best Pokemon game.

 

[Chukhopops]

Well yeah, it's a physical sales thread.

I thought it was about total launch numbers and just Nintendo didn’t report digital sales but I misread. My bad.

 

[daclynk]

 

[Gaiff]

Can we stop with the UK boxed charts? The number 1 spot sells like 10 copies lol.

 

[Whitecrow]

How clueless and unashamed can people be

 

[DenchDeckard]

Big Nintendo fan but this is rough.....shouldn't be awarded for the mess this game is.

 

[Pejo]

Which is exactly why there will never be big advancements in Pokemon games. Gamefreak has the easiest job as a dev.

 

[Beer Baelly]

Long live the British

 

[Bragr]

So it beat FIFA, damn, this is gonna do huge numbers, the holidays are right around the corner too. During the last 10 months, Game Freak has released 2 games, both earning hundreds of millions of dollars.

And Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came out this time last year too (that was not by game freak), also selling like hotcakes.

That's 3 Pokemon games in 12 months. Brilliant Diamond and Pearl sits at over 14 million, while Pokemon Legends is over 13 million. And this is gonna sell over 15 million like nothing.

 

[yazenov]

Proof that they can get away with anything due to the Pokemon brand name alone. It's the same thing with FIFA and Madden

Thank you Nintendo fans for rewarding mediocrity. Enjoy your mediocre game next year as well.

 

[reksveks]

Can we stop with the UK boxed charts? The number 1 spot sells like 10 copies lol.

Whilst I agree that the chart needs context related the number of game sales. This week's probably isnt the best example of the charts always being irrelevant.

Pokemon in total was probably in the 228k range.

Still going to be peanuts to the JP numbers this week

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Can we stop with the UK boxed charts? The number 1 spot sells like 10 copies lol.

God of War Ragnarok sold around 150k last week and around 40k this week. Pokémon sold around 240k this week.

How is this 10 units or an irrelevant metric?

 

[Spaceman292]

How clueless and unashamed can people be

Are you saying that the people who actually play the game rather than just complaining about it on the internet are less informed about it?

 

[Whitecrow]

Are you saying that the people who actually play the game rather than just complaining about it on the internet are less informed about it?

Obviously.

The bigger part of the pokémon audience is not living in a forum being aware of everything technical about the games.

 

[Spaceman292]

Obviously.

The bigger part of the pokémon audience is not living in a forum being aware of everything technical about the games.

Then doesn't that mean the technical issues are being overblown by the people on here? The game is evidently playable despite hiccups with the frame rate.

 

[Whitecrow]

Then doesn't that mean the technical issues are being overblown by the people on here? The game is evidently playable despite hiccups with the frame rate.

Not saying otherwise. People is allowed to have fun with whatever they want. That doesnt mean that what is trash should not be called trash.

 

[Spaceman292]

Not saying otherwise. People is allowed to have fun with whatever they want. That doesnt mean that what is trash should not be called trash.

But it's not trash. Aside from the graphics it's great. There are even times where it looks pretty good, although unless you play it you wouldn't see that since everyone on here is cherry picking the worst screen shots they can find.

 

[sandbood]

Can we stop with the UK boxed charts? The number 1 spot sells like 10 copies lol.

Over 220K isn't small numbers.

 

[Whitecrow]

But it's not trash. Aside from the graphics it's great. There are even times where it looks pretty good, although unless you play it you wouldn't see that since everyone on here is cherry picking the worst screen shots they can find.

OK maybe trash was too much. But my point is, that when you are not calling out devs on such big flaws or giving them money they dont deserve just because you are having 'fun', you are sending a clear message to the devs that you dont care that they dont do their jobs. Which obviously pisses off a lot of people who wants decent quality games.

 

[ADiTAR]

OK maybe trash was too much. But my point is, that when you are not calling out devs on such big flaws or giving them money they dont deserve just because you are having 'fun', you are sending a clear message to the devs that you dont care that they dont do their jobs. Which obviously pisses off a lot of people who wants decent quality games.

Everyone are calling them out, and people say there pretty serious issues, but also, that it's fun. Maybe this could be fixed with a patch.

 

[AV]

Like clockwork. But this time you can add in "broken and untested".

Goes to show as usual that no amount of whining about Pokémon makes the slightest bit of difference.

 

[daclynk]

What ever happened with 'NINTENDO SEAL OF QUALITY'?

 

[Spaceman292]

money they dont deserve just because you are having 'fun'

Imagine wanting to have """'''fun''"""'" playing a video game. Do you think you might be missing the forest for the trees?

 

[Whitecrow]

Imagine wanting to have """'''fun''"""'" playing a video game. Do you think you might be missing the forest for the trees?

I think you can have fun and also have standards. Fun is no excuse for giving everything a pass.

 

[Spaceman292]

I think you can have fun and also have standards. Fun is no excuse for giving everything a pass.

If having lower standards means I can enjoy things, then that's fine.

 

[nightmare-slain]

To everyone who bought this game

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Maybe this could be a lesson for AAA devs.
Why spend the extra months crunching and polishing your game when it’s gonna sell anyway on name alone? It’s not like the usual names would ever get a 76 Metascore anyway.

I’m only half joking.
GF have always been terrible devs - remember, the original Pokémon, a Game Boy game, took five years to make. The system was basically dead at that point, and yet the game was full of bugs anyway.
They could and should definitely do much better than this, but their games can be good fun in spite of the problems. This just further proves you don’t need top budget and top production values to make a fun game and enjoy success. Sure, the brand’s strength is what makes this a 15+ million seller every time, but the same could be said for many other games.

 

[Musashipan]

Hahaha
Gow who?
Fifa who?
COD who?
I don't understand the appeal for pokemon games. Last one I enjoyed was stadium I & II and just cause of the minigames.

 

[ADiTAR]

Hahaha
Gow who?
Fifa who?
COD who?
I don't understand the appeal for pokemon games. Last one I enjoyed was stadium I & II and just cause of the minigames.

There's a huge untapped market by most companies for kids. Nintendo is really the only big player.

 

[lh032]

keep buying and you'll keep getting trash from gamefreak.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

What ever happened with 'NINTENDO SEAL OF QUALITY'?

Was accidentally impaled by Japanese whale hunters.

 

[Mister Wolf]

 

[adamsapple]

It is the biggest boxed game launch of the year

Dayum

 

[Punished Miku]

Then doesn't that mean the technical issues are being overblown by the people on here? The game is evidently playable despite hiccups with the frame rate.

Sounds a lot like the Arceus discussion on here. I got Arceus and it was a lot of fun actually.

 

[Luminoth-4545]

Pokemon is doing incredible on Switch, Scarlet and Violet will get Pokemon over 100 million on Switch, i can see it outselling Sword and Shield despite Sword and Shield having a three year head start.

Sword & Shield: 25.37 million
Diamond & Pearl: 14.92 million
Let's Go Pickachu & Evee: 14.81 million
Legends Arceus: 13.91 million
New Pokemon Snap: 2.74 million
Mystery Dungeon DX: 1.89 million
Pokken tournament: 1.54 million
Total: 75.18 million

 

[TLZ]

Eh.. the kids are loving it. Got the dual pack from the post office today and they played for 2hrs straight when we got home.

 

[Deerock71]

Came here for this.

 

[jaysius]

What ever happened with 'NINTENDO SEAL OF QUALITY'?

Pokemon Voilet/Scarlet would have gotten that, the entire purpose of that system was to make 3rd party Nintendo Carts look welfare. It had nothing to do with actual quality.

 

[jaysius]

The game is legit fun, if they ever fix the awful performance issues it'll be maybe almost better than Arcerus.

 

[Swift_Star]

This is, actually, pretty sad considering the state the game is in.

 

[Kataploom]

And people wonder why Gamefreak continues to ship out unfinished games

Well, this time it was way worse and vocal than anything before, I think people expected same shit not even this bad... It will probably affect future game sales considering many people preordered, specially if the situation is common which I hope it's not

 

[Celcius]

I’ve been making fun of the game’s technical issues since it launched but after watching people on twitch play it, I have to admit that it does look fun. I’ve never played a Pokémon game before but I feel like I’d be rewarding bad behavior if I bought this at full price or before a major patch fixes all of the issues.

I know the price will probably never drop (Nintendo gonna Nintendo) but what are the chances of a major patch dropping soon? Or ever?