Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are now some of the best-selling Pokemon games of all time thanks to the new Switch re-releases
After almost 22 years, the GBA remakes made it
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have rocketed way up the list of the best-selling Pokemon games of all time, and it's all thanks to their recent Nintendo Switch ports.
Nintendo today released the company's financial results for the fiscal year that ended in March, and – surprise, surprise – those pocket monsters have been doing quite well. Pokemon Pokopia managed to move over four million copies within five weeks as a Switch 2 exclusive, and perhaps even more impressively, the over 20-year-old Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen sold upwards of four million units since being re-released on Switch.
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen first debuted on the GBA as colorful remakes of the original GameBoy classics, and while the duo performed amazingly well the first time around and sold 12 million copies in their initial run, they were promptly kicked out of the series' top 10 list as the years went on. (Pokemania didn't stop, you see.)
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's total sales now sit at around 16 million, including those mighty Switch numbers, bumping the duo up to ninth place on the list of best-selling Pokemon games. (Thanks to Serebii's Joe Merrick.)
Here's the full top 10 for reference:
- Pokemon Red/Blue/Green (31.3 million)
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (28.2 million)
- Pokemon Sword and Shield (27.1 million)
- Pokemon Gold and Silver (23.7 million)
- Pokemon Diamond and Pearl (17.6 million)
- Pokemon X and Y (16.8 million)
- Pokemon Sun and Moon (16.3 million)
- Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire (16.2 million)
- Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen (16 million)
- Pokemon Black and White (15.6 million)
Unless The Pokemon Company decides to drop more of its classic games onto the Nintendo Switch, FireRed and LeafGreen will almost definitely shoot up this list even further. The RPGs only need to sell another 1.6 million to crack into the series' top five, and with how things are currently going, that's almost as certain as a Master Ball catch.
"By continuing to release these kinds of compelling titles for Nintendo Switch 2, we aim to convey the appeal of the platform to our consumers who play on Nintendo Switch," the company writes of Pokopia's success.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.
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