Pokemon Legends: Z-A was the best-selling game in Europe last week, but it's the weakest Pokemon launch since the first games of the Switch era.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is doing pretty well so far – it's got Pokemon in the title, that was always a guarantee of success, especially considering it is estimated that it only needs to sell 200k units to break even. The multi-platform release sold over 5.8 million copies in its first week, with about half of them coming from the Switch 2 edition (there being a Pokemon Legends Z-A Switch 2 bundle definitely helps with that).
But that wasn't the only sales success the game had, as The Game Business reports that Pokemon Legends: Z-A was the best-selling game in Europe last week, beating out Battlefield 6 . The release of the game also resulted in a rise in Switch 2 console sales, and – in the UK at least – Pokemon Legends: Z-A Nintendo Switch 2 Edition sold better than the regular edition on Switch.
However, just as the 5.8 million was a weaker launch than Pokemon Legends: Arceus a few years prior, Pokemon Legends: Z-A's successful Europe launch was still a step down from previous games in the series. The Game Business reports that this is the weakest launch for a mainline Pokemon RPG in Europe since the release of Pokémon: Let’s Go! Pikachu and Let's Go! Eevee in 2018, which sold 3 million copies in their first week worldwide.
Again, a successful launch is still a successful launch regardless of how previous games did, but I'd be interested to know where this drop came from, whether that be the rough launch of Scarlet and Violet leaving a bad taste in people's mouths or if the new combat system is more divisive than expected.
Be sure to check out our Pokemon Legends: Z-A review, as well as our Pokemon Legends: Z-A tips to help get you started in the new RPG.
