Pokemon games never fail to sell stellar numbers upon launch, especially in Japan, and it seems the recently released duo of Gen 4 remakes, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, have done the same. As per Famitsu, the two games collectively sold nearly 1.4 million copies in Japan within three days of launch- 1,395,642 million copies, to be precise.
That figure includes physical sales for both games individually, sales of download cards at retail, and sales of the double pack, which includes both games. This figure does not, however, include digital sales directly from the Switch eShop, so that number is likely much higher.
Impressively enough, this means Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have outpaced the launch sales of 2019’s Pokemon Sword and Shield, which sold which collectively sold 1,364,544 million units in Japan in their first three days. This also means Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have seen the second-biggest launch for a Switch game in Japan to date, second only to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which sold 1,880,626 units in Japan on debut.
Meanwhile, the remakes’ launch sales have fallen just short of the launch sales for the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, which sold 1.586 million units in four days at launch in Japan when they first launched for the Nintendo DS in September 2006. It’s worth noting, however, that the tracking period for their launch sales had an additional day, and that digital sales have become significantly more prevalent now than they were a decade and a half ago.
Famitsu reports that the new Pokemon launch also resulted in a significant boost to hardware sales for the Nintendo Switch, which sold over 168,000 units during the week (including all models). Notably, this also means the Switch has passed a significant sales milestone, having now sold over 22 million units in Japan to date.
Clearly, the new Pokemon remakes are performing to expectations around the world. It was also recently confirmed that in the UK, the games collectively saw the best physical launch for a Switch game in 2021, surpassing Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, and the second-best physical launch of the year across all platforms, second only to FIFA 22. Read more on that through here.
