It has just been revealed that Pokemon Sword and Shield, the most recent mainline entries in the long-running Pokemon franchise, have just hit an impressive sales milestone.
The Nintendo Switch titles have sold a total of 18.22 million units, making them the best-selling Pokemon games in the last 20 years. They currently stand as the third best-selling entries in the franchise, still behind Pokemon Red and Blue and Pokemon Gold and Silver, which have comparatively sold 31.3 million units and 23 million units, respectively.
The franchise has always been known for its high sales, with every generation of titles becoming best sellers on its respective console. Sword and Shield currently stand as the fifth best-selling titles on the Switch console, just beating out Super Mario Odyssey which sold 18.06 million units, and are only beaten by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (18.6 million), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (19.99 million), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (22.4 million), and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (26.74 million).
Given how well games have been selling on Nintendo's hybrid console, it's not big surprise seeing Sword and Shield succeed like they currently are. The Switch has proven that even more niche games can sell well on the system, with new and more experimental titles such as 1-2 Switch, Ring Fit Adventure, and Arms all selling over 2 million units each.
Many old titles have also been ported over to the console with several selling better than their original Wii U releases, the most notable of which being the console's best selling title Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But many other older titles have seen success on the platform, such as Captain Toad Treasure Tracker and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. This trend has continued into 2020, with Pikmin 3 Deluxe recently getting announced and given a release date of October 30, 2020.
The Pokemon franchise shows no sign of stopping, with more DLC set to release later this Fall for Sword and Shield in the form of its second expansion entitled The Crown Tundra. There's no telling whether the title will receive additional content after this expansion, or whether a new game will come next. But with Pokemon's sales track record, it's sure to sell well no matter what.
Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.