This past weekend Pokemon X and Y became the first set of games in the history of the franchise to launch simultaneously worldwide. I think this marked one of the only times I can recall that a video game launched on a Saturday, at least in recent times, but I digress. Anyway, Nintendo has recently announced that the two games combined sold more than four million units across Japan, Europe, and The Americas on the first two days of release.
When looking at the data for past releases in the franchise, even though this is the first time in the franchise history of a world-wide simultaneous release, at the rate their going X and Y could surpass the other games in the franchise. Since 2002 five sets of Pokemon titles have combined to exceed 10 million units sold to date worldwide, three of those surpassing 15 million units. At the rate X and Y are going, there's a good chance that they will not only be joining that list, but surpassing most of those titles outright. They still have a ways to go to surpass the most-selling set, Diamond and Pearl.
First Pokémon RPG for Nintendo 3DS Launches Simultaneously Around the World
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- On Saturday, Oct. 12, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y for Nintendo 3DS became the first set of games in franchise history to launch simultaneously worldwide. Nintendo reported today that the games combined to sell more than 4 million units across Japan, Europe* and The Americas on Saturday, Oct. 12, and Sunday, Oct. 13.
“The early response to Pokémon X and Pokémon Y not only reaffirms the ongoing passion of Pokémon fans, but also indicates that an entirely new generation of gamers is eager to experience the franchise for itself,” said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.
Since this was the first global launch in franchise history, there isn’t an exact historical precedent for comparison. However, when combining and comparing regional data for previous launches, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y would be the fastest-selling Nintendo 3DS games of all time and are tracking ahead of the last Pokémon RPG titles, Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2, by more than 70 percent.
With more than 245 million** games sold worldwide, the Pokémon franchise continues to be one of the strongest brands in the history of video games. Since 2002, five sets of Pokémon titles have combined to exceed 10 million units sold to date worldwide, with three sets combining to surpass 15 million units. That list includes:
| Title | Platform | Total Global Sales | ||||
| Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl | Nintendo DS | 17.63 Million | ||||
| Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire | Game Boy Advance | 16.22 Million | ||||
| Pokémon Black and Pokémon White | Nintendo DS | 15.42 Million | ||||
| Pokémon HeartGold and Pokémon SoulSilver | Nintendo DS | 12.67 Million | ||||
| Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen | Game Boy Advance | 12 Million | ||||
*Data from Europe primarily covers Saturday, Oct. 12, as the great majority of retail outlets are closed on Sundays across Europe.
**Pokémon global sales are based on internal sales figures, and are current as of March 31, 2013.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.1 billion video games and more than 655 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.
