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Sales Data Christopher Dring || Pokemon Legends Arceus is the 4th Biggest Pokemon Launch in the UK

What was the expectation going in? Since we don't know digital split it's hard to get an absolute comparison but looks like it's behind S&S which released recently and would likely have had a similar digital split.
 
I have to say the fact they listed Shining Pearl before Brilliant Diamond despite having the rest in alphabetical order is messing with my OCD. Edit: oh wait Sun and Moon aren't in alphabetical order either :/

I like the game a lot but I don't know if I'll finish the pokedex like I did in previous games. Probably just catch the new ones for my living dex on Home. Sales are deserved.
 
Dekuman said:
What was the expectation going in? Since we don't know digital split it's hard to get an absolute comparison but looks like it's behind S&S which released recently and would likely have had a similar digital split.
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It was difficult to have any expectation. It's Pokémon but also launching in January, and a totally different kind of day.

We now know that none of it matters and that people will still show up regardless of when it launches, even if it's two months after the last one.
 
Gen 9 next year should easily claim the top spot, assuming it’s also a November release and they iterate on the new gameplay mechanics from Legends too.
Unless digital grows so much that it doesn’t
 
Skittzo said:
With digital then it's either #1 or #2 in all likelihood.
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Doing some VERY basic math with general digital splits we have seen Nintendo report in the past, I think Sw/Sh would be #1 and Arceus #2 with digital included, but there's no way to be sure.

Either way, the game is huge. And WOM is way stronger than a Pokemon game has had in a while.
 
Also, it seems it is the biggest single version mainline launch since Yellow!



Pokemon is basically back to selling what it sold in its golden age; or well even more. Since Legends: Arceus should easily cruise pass Yellow; and rival a good chunk of the "Gen-introducing" duos... if not all except SwSh & Red and Blue.
 
I didn't buy it. I did buy an Oled though.... I don't know why, but it isn't as white as I feared.

white one was slightly cheaper on amazon which is odd but it probably wont leave the house to get mucky
 
Impressive as expected, especially since this is not a holiday season. I'm curious to other regions as well. 50% of the boxed sales is really good, were there any other big releases this month besides this?

Skittzo said:
With digital then it's either #1 or #2 in all likelihood.
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Even if the ratio weren't as big, the 3DS games have digital sales as well, so we don't know if it's all that likely.

Tlozbj said:
Also, it seems it is the biggest single version mainline launch since Yellow!



Pokemon is basically back to selling what it sold in its golden age; or well even more. Since Legends: Arceus should easily cruise pass Yellow; and rival a good chunk of the "Gen-introducing" duos... if not all except SwSh & Red and Blue.
Click to expand...

You can't really compare this to third version games, they're totally different things being bought/sold for totally different reasons. One is a QoL better version of an already released game, the other is a completely different game.

And Pokémon never went away imo, it has always stood strong. And now it's more apparent on the Switch thanks to the huge install base and active user base.

Still a very good time for the series, to have back to back (potentially) massive selling entries which we've never had before I think?
 
Since this is boxed sales only, when you consider the 3DS games were probably more heavily weighted towards boxed sales than it is today, it's possible Arceus may even be #3 for biggest UK launch.
 
HockeyBird said:
Since this is boxed sales only, when you consider the 3DS games were probably more heavily weighted towards boxed sales than it is today, it's possible Arceus may even be #3 for biggest UK launch.
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"Probably". Digital sales on 3DS are nothing compared to digital sales on Switch.
We have seen digital sales of Nintendo games make up from 20%-70%. Especially games which are available with the eShop voucher have very high digital sales. Arceus was a voucher game in some countries.
 
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HockeyBird said:
Since this is boxed sales only, when you consider the 3DS games were probably more heavily weighted towards boxed sales than it is today, it's possible Arceus may even be #3 for biggest UK launch.
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Arceus is probably #1 or #2 with Sw/Sh being the other one.

Digital on Switch is up compared to 3DS by probably several orders of magnitude, especially in the UK where digital is probably higher than any other major market in general.
 
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Tlozbj said:
Also, it seems it is the biggest single version mainline launch since Yellow!



Pokemon is basically back to selling what it sold in its golden age; or well even more. Since Legends: Arceus should easily cruise pass Yellow; and rival a good chunk of the "Gen-introducing" duos... if not all except SwSh & Red and Blue.
Click to expand...

Is this specific stat supposed to be impressive or unexpected somehow? Its only competition on this front are a few third version revisions, why wouldn't it have outsold those as a brand new game? Don't see how we're already extrapolating that to mean Legends will outsell almost everything else
 
Ahmed said:
You can't really compare this to third version games, they're totally different things being bought/sold for totally different reasons. One is a QoL better version of an already released game, the other is a completely different game.

And Pokémon never went away imo, it has always stood strong. And now it's more apparent on the Switch thanks to the huge install base and active user base.

Still a very good time for the series, to have back to back (potentially) massive selling entries which we've never had before I think?
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Lets remember that Yellow wasn't only QoL better game in comparison to Red/Green/Blue. It was a anime fitted version of the game, which changes dynamics a tad. While Legends: Arceus while indeed a different game, till just some weeks ago had the discourse that it would potentially sell as a spinoff.

Agreed on both counts. Though a "decline" inside the series own numbers still happened, until it was push back up with Go and then Switch. However, of course that "decline" still had Pokemon being its usual juggernaut self. The 16 - 17 million from the GBA - DS era were still huge, just not as much as the 30+ & 20+ million from the GB one.
Lord Azrael said:
Is this specific stat supposed to be impressive or unexpected somehow? Its only competition on this front are a few third version revisions, why wouldn't it have outsold those as a brand new game? Don't see how we're already extrapolating that to mean Legends will outsell almost everything else
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Yes? Just till recently (see before the leaks) the discourse on Legends: Arceus was it possibly selling as a spinoff at worse, as a remake duo at best. Aside, that Pokemon Yellow is still to this day the best selling non-new gen mainline game (going by InstallBase archives) with 14.64 million. If the trend maintains, Legends can outsell almost everything else because the only thing that separate Yellow from the Top 5 is 1.94 million. A number it can achieve with it outpacing Yellow, exceptional word of mouth, and the still thriving Switch userbase.

1. Red/Blue/Green - 31.05 million
2. Gold/Silver - 23.73 million
3. Sword/Shield - 22.64 million
4. Diamond & Pearl - 17.67 million
5. X/Y - 16.58 million

InstallBase Nintendo Archives
 
Given that it's a single SKU this is pretty spectacular. I'm sure the experiment has already financially paid off for them but I want to see this hit BOTW numbers.
 
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Tlozbj said:
Lets remember that Yellow wasn't only QoL better game in comparison to Red/Green/Blue. It was a anime fitted version of the game, which changes dynamics a tad. While Legends: Arceus while indeed a different game, till just some weeks ago had the discourse that it would potentially sell as a spinoff.

Agreed on both counts. Though a "decline" inside the series own numbers still happened, until it was push back up with Go and then Switch. However, of course that "decline" still had Pokemon being its usual juggernaut self. The 16 - 17 million from the GBA - DS era were still huge, just not as much as the 30+ & 20+ million from the GB one.
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The anime additions/changes in Yellow were so minor, you really can't make that comparison. I just don't agree.

We all know very well that the people who were sceptical about Legends sales are a very small (vocal) minority on gaming forums. The audience for Pokémon is much more massive.

Almost every single series on the Switch is selling more than ever, it's not only a Pokémon thing. The Switch is just a system that has a very diverse and active user base, more than any recent Nintendo hardware (mostly home console).
 
Tlozbj said:
Yes? Just till recently (see before the leaks) the discourse on Legends: Arceus was it possibly selling as a spinoff at worse, as a remake duo at best. Aside, that Pokemon Yellow is still to this day the best selling non-new gen mainline game (going by InstallBase archives) with 14.64 million. If the trend maintains, Legends can outsell almost everything else because the only thing that separate Yellow from the Top 5 is 1.94 million. A number it can achieve with it outpacing Yellow, exceptional word of mouth, and the still thriving Switch userbase.

1. Red/Blue/Green - 31.05 million
2. Gold/Silver - 23.73 million
3. Sword/Shield - 22.64 million
4. Diamond & Pearl - 17.67 million
5. X/Y - 16.58 million
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Some people might have doubted the game's sales potential, but even the biggest naysayers mostly had it pegged above 10m, which still would've beaten every other single game release except for Yellow.

Also, there is a very big difference between beating Yellow and beating everything except RGB and SwSh. Don't forget there's still Gold and Silver, which I think are being written off a little too casually for now.
 
Ahmed said:
The anime additions/changes in Yellow were so minor, you really can't make that comparison. I just don't agree.

We all know very well that the people who were sceptical about Legends sales are a very small (vocal) minority on gaming forums. The audience for Pokémon is much more massive.

Almost every single series on the Switch is selling more than ever, it's not only a Pokémon thing. The Switch is just a system that has a very diverse and active user base, more than any recent Nintendo hardware (mostly home console).
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Then we can agree to disagree on that point. We would consider the additions noticeables. A shakeup of the starter selection, being able to obtain all 3 starters, the Jesse & James inclusion, some sprites redesigned to be closer to the anime, shakeup of trainer locations and teams so they matched with the anime counterparts, the proto-friendship system with Pikachu, etc.

That the audience for Pokemon is massive does not guarantee big sales, however. The spinoffs and some of the 3rd versions are testament of that.

Yeah, I know, it's why I agreed with you on that point, and clarified on what I meant by decline. Aside of noting the Switch effect as one of the reasons mainline Pokemon is back to matching the numbers of Gen 2 & 1.
Lord Azrael said:
Some people might have doubted the game's sales potential, but even the biggest naysayers mostly had it pegged above 10m, which still would've beaten every other single game release except for Yellow.

Also, there is a very big difference between beating Yellow and beating everything except RGB and SwSh. Don't forget there's still Gold and Silver, which I think are being written off a little too casually for now.
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Which falls in the middle of the range we mentioned of what people were mostly expecting. Since the floor for the remakes is 12 million with FireRed/LeafGreen.

Yeah that one is on me 😅 wrote the first post from memory, and had misremembered Gold & Silver sales as 21m instead of 23, almost 24, million.
 
Anecdotally, I can’t find a copy in any Walmart around me in the States. I could get it digitally, but I want this one physically! Gahhhh
 
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Starphanluke said:
I've seen people legit seculate about someone buying TPC, which has really made me realize how much people don't actually understand the whole ownership situation of Pokemon.
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Nintendo in partnership with Game Freak and Creatures should buy The Pokemon Company!
 
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NabiscoFelt said:
How do ownership rights work in that case? Would the buyers get the TPC shares Gamefreak currently has?

That is technically buying some of Pokemon then
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probably, but if the new owners of GF thinks that gets them say on where Pokemon goes, they're sorely mistaken
 
NabiscoFelt said:
How do ownership rights work in that case? Would the buyers get the TPC shares Gamefreak currently has?

That is technically buying some of Pokemon then
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Technically a waste of money because Nintendo owns trademarks of all-name Pokemon. Isn't Nintendo also owning the majority of creatures stake too?

well most likely scenario is to get those sweet sweet Pokemon money
 
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NabiscoFelt said:
How do ownership rights work in that case? Would the buyers get the TPC shares Gamefreak currently has?

That is technically buying some of Pokemon then
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They get the shares but mostly they’ll get the Gamefreak devs (if they stay) and their share of the profits. The Pokemon trademark (including the Pokemon creatures themselves) is owned by Nintendo. So even if one bought Gamefreak, they wouldn’t be able to tell them to make a Pokemon game, or release Pokemon on PC or something.
 
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Tlozbj said:
Then we can agree to disagree on that point. We would consider the additions noticeables. A shakeup of the starter selection, being able to obtain all 3 starters, the Jesse & James inclusion, some sprites redesigned to be closer to the anime, shakeup of trainer locations and teams so they matched with the anime counterparts, the proto-friendship system with Pikachu, etc.

That the audience for Pokemon is massive does not guarantee big sales, however. The spinoffs and some of the 3rd versions are testament of that.

Yeah, I know, it's why I agreed with you on that point, and clarified on what I meant by decline. Aside of noting the Switch effect as one of the reasons mainline Pokemon is back to matching the numbers of Gen 2 & 1.
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The argument was that the changes in Yellow are very minor compared to having a complete new game like Legends, not that they're 'noticeable'. That's still completely different and not comparable.
And going by that logic pretty much every third version has 'noticeable' changes, Crystal for example has an additional playable character, animated sprites, "better" graphics (only playable on GBC compared to G/S if I recall), new puzzles, new story elements, and more.

But yeah, we disagree on this point.

What i meant by the Pokémon audience being massive is that the tiny group of people who underestimate the sales potential of Legends are exactly that, a tiny fraction of the people who buy (or won't) the game. Not that because the audience is massive in general it will guarantee big sales.

I don't get the comparison with those spin-off titles (I'm presuming you mean games like Rangers and Mystery Dungeon etc?), are we considering Legends to be a spin-off now?

Oh, my bad. I read that the wrong way then.
 
I'm happy to eat crow here. I thought that it would struggle to do the usual Pokemon numbers due to a lack of accesibility but seems like it's rubbing shoulders with the big boys. Very encouraging for the franchise to see Gamefreak take a risk and be rewarded for it, both financially and in word of mouth
 
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Where do you expect Legends to be at the time of its first appearance on a financial report, which will be the one that ends on March 31st?
 
Ahmed said:
The argument was that the changes in Yellow are very minor compared to having a complete new game like Legends, not that they're 'noticeable'. That's still completely different and not comparable.
And going by that logic pretty much every third version has 'noticeable' changes, Crystal for example has an additional playable character, animated sprites, "better" graphics (only playable on GBC compared to G/S if I recall), new puzzles, new story elements, and more.

But yeah, we disagree on this point.

What i meant by the Pokémon audience being massive is that the tiny group of people who underestimate the sales potential of Legends are exactly that, a tiny fraction of the people who buy (or won't) the game. Not that because the audience is massive in general it will guarantee big sales.

I don't get the comparison with those spin-off titles (I'm presuming you mean games like Rangers and Mystery Dungeon etc?), are we considering Legends to be a spin-off now?

Oh, my bad. I read that the wrong way then.
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Oh okay, now I get what you mean by noting the people who thought Arceus would not sell much is a tiny group. I wasn't considering the whole group of people that may buy the game in the situation. Afterall, a good chunk of the audience doesn't even participate in sales discussions. So I automatically didn't consider them in the situation, and was purely speaking to the online discourse. Because of course, online discourse will always be a small fragment of the audience of a series enjoyed by a wide range of people.

Not now, but before. There was the overall doubt of Arceus being a mainline or a spinoff. Since it wasn't till recently that TPC properly confirmed that Legends: Arceus was a mainline game.
 
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