Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's performance woes didn't hold back its sales, as Gen 9 overtakes Sword and Shield to become the series' all-time runner-ups

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have sneaked ahead of Pokemon Sword and Shield to become the series' second best-selling games.

In new sales information released during its latest investor call, Nintendo confirmed that the most recent mainline Pokemon games had sold 26.79 million copies. That means that they've just managed to overtake Sword and Shield, which have shipped 26.72 million copies.

Those 70,000 units are a pretty minor difference when you're talking about the 20+ million sales that some of the Nintendo Switch's biggest games have managed, but they were enough to sneak Scarlet and Violet ahead of their immediate predecessors.

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Those games are unlikely to ever claim the series' all-time crown, however. Pokemon Red, Blue, and Green still boast more than 30 million sales, leaving them streaks ahead of the competition. Gold and Silver put in a solid effort, but the Switch games have consigned Gen 2 to fourth place.

Scarlet and Violet's success is something of a surprise given their performance issues. The games were touted as the Pokemon series' first open-world games, but one of the biggest criticisms levied at them was their inability to leverage the Switch's processing power as effectively as other, often older, Nintendo titles.

We're still a way off from the next mainline Pokemon games, but we will get to see Pokemon Legends: Z-A later this year. That's unlikely to overtake Scarlet and Violet - its predecessor, Legends: Arceus, amassed a respectable 15 million or so sales. Releasing on the Nintendo Switch 2 is likely to help sales of the upcoming entry, but we'll likely be waiting until Gen 10 to see a real challenger.

Take a look at all the upcoming Switch 2 games we know about so far.