Pokemon Legends: Arceus gets the series' fourth-biggest UK launch ever

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It's had a more successful launch than Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Pokemon Legends Arceus
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is currently the fourth biggest Pokemon launch of all time, beating the likes of Black and White as well as Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. 

As revealed by the head of GamesIndustry.biz, @Chris_Dring on Twitter, Pokemon Legends: Arceus is already doing impressive numbers for Nintendo - despite only releasing three days ago. The new Pokemon title has had a "massive launch," overtaking other games in the series such as Pokemon Yellow and Let’s Go Pikachu.

According to the tweet, these stats are only for retail numbers (not digital data) but regardless, it’s still been an impressive first few days for Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

The game currently sits in between Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby as the third-biggest launch and Pokemon Black and White in fifth. Perhaps not so surprisingly, Legends Arceus also beat last year’s Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl - which could be down to Arceus being a brand new game and BDSP being a remake. 

We got a small hint towards this impressive launch as early as Pokemon Legends: Arceus' launch day a few days ago when UK retailer Currys revealed that Pokemon Legends Arceus was its most pre-ordered game ever. In fact, the electronics store projected that over 25,000 copies of Pokemon Legends: Arceus would probably be purchased on launch day - with plenty more now likely looking to purchase the game following its successful first weekend. 

Even more surprisingly, it looks like Pokemon Legends: Arceus could be receiving some DLC later this year - if one Pokemon leaker’s claims are anything to believe. According to @Riddler_Khu on Twitter, Pokemon Legends: Arceus will get some kind of new content in April 2022. However, without an official announcement from Game Freak, Nintendo, or The Pokemon Company - we’ll just have to wait and see if this turns out to be true. 

Wondering what Pokemon you’ll encounter in the Hisui region? Take a look at the complete Pokemon Legends: Arceus pokedex. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.