Pokémon Sword and Shield becomes fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game ever

While it was always going to be a monster success, Pokémon Sword and Shield have sold over six million copies worldwide in its first week of release – putting it on track to become the biggest seller on the console yet.  

These figures are according to a tweet from The Pokémon Company, which notes they’re the fastest selling games on Nintendo Switch.  

For context, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the top-selling Switch title with 19.01 million units sold according to Nintendo’s recent software sales. Considering it came out in April 2017 though, it’s not hard to imagine Pokémon Sword and Shield outpacing the title over the same time period.  

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold 12.08 million units over two months after release too, and is the second best-selling game on the platform, which Pokémon could easily top too at this pace.  

Last year’s Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu! And Let’s Go Eevee! On Switch have sold 11.28 million copies to date, which were based on the original Game Boy Pokémon titles and didn’t mark a new generation.  

The high sales of Pokémon Sword and Shield also indicate the fuss over the lack of National Dex wasn’t such a deal breaker after all, although we’ll have to see how (and if) developer Game Freak addresses the issue moving forward.  

If you’re craving some competitive Pokémon action already, an official online tournament is set to take place next month on 6 December. You can sign up to enter in the VS menu within the game and searching for official competitions in the Online Competitions tab.