Pokémon Scarlet and Violet now the most pre-ordered game in franchise’s history
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is the latest entry in the long-running Pokémon series, and it promises to be the biggest, most ambitious Pokémon game to date. Anticipation for this title is exceedingly high, and it’s not just some sort of gut feeling: it was confirmed by Takato Utsunomiya (Chief Operating Officer at The Pokémon Company)!
In an interview with Oricon News, he revealed that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is now the most pre-ordered game in franchise’s history. Unfortunately, his wording makes it unclear whether he’s talking specifically of the Japanese market or worldwide. That being said, it’s more than likely that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet racked up more pre-ordered both in Japan and worldwide.
Here’s his statement:
We’re delighted to announce that [Pokémon Scarlet and Violet] has already become the most pre-ordered game in the Pokémon series’ history. We are looking forward to bring the game to everyone tomorrow.
If Pokémon Scarlet and Violet truly did break the series’ pre-order record in Japan, that means it did even better than Pokémon Black and White, the previous record holder with 1.882.000 units pre-ordered.
Here’s how previous Pokémon games fared when it comes to pre-orders:
BW: Black and White, B2/W2: Black and White 2, OR/AS: OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire, SM: Sun and Moon.
+----+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| Wk | B/W | B2/W2 | X/Y | OR/ΑS | S/M |
+----+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | 8 weeks | 10 weeks | 10 weeks | 10 weeks | 19 weeks |
+----+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| 19 | | | | | - |
| 18 | | | | | - |
| 17 | | | | | - |
| 16 | | | | | - |
| 15 | | | | | - |
| 14 | | | | | - |
| 13 | | | | | - |
| 12 | | | | | - |
| 11 | | | | | - |
| 10 | | - | 260.000 | 239.000 | - |
| 9 | | - | - | 420.000 | - |
| 8 | - | - | - | 540.000 | - |
| 7 | - | - | - | 620.000 | - |
| 6 | - | - | - | 710.000 | - |
| 5 | 1.080.000 | - | 985.000 | 780.000 | - |
| 4 | - | - | 1.102.000 | 850.000 | - |
| 3 | - | - | 1.260.000 | 930.000 | - |
| 2 | - | 1.160.000 | 1.559.000 | 1.000.000 | 1.250.000 |
| 1 | 1.882.000 | 1.286.000 | 1.740.000 | 1.130.000 | 1.406.000 |
+----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| | 2.557.779 | 1.561.738 | 1.866.570 | 1.508.665 | 1.893.387 |
+----+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+Pokémon Black and White had such strong pre-orders because it came out at the very end of the Nintendo DS’s life, which remains to this day the best-selling game console ever in Japan. It looks like history is poised to repeat itself with the Nintendo Switch, which is already the 3rd best-selling console in Japan.
Back in September, Splatoon 3 broke the record for best game launch in Japan with over 3.45 million units sold (retail + digital). It certainly would be impressive if Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were to break that record less than 3 months later!
Even though it has now been running for well over 25 years, the Pokémon series is more popular than ever, and it looks like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is only going to help it reach new heights. So far, total sales of Pokémon video games have reached 440 million units, and it probably will not take too long for the 500 million units milestone to be reached!
Source: Oricon News
Pre-order data: Media Create, via Chris1964 (InstallBase)
