Pokemon Sword and Shield outsold Pokemon Let's Go in 6 weeks

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In six weeks, they outstripped the lifetime sales of Pokemon Let's Go by nearly 40%

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Pokemon Sword and Shield is among the fastest-selling Switch games ever released, according to updated sales figures from Nintendo Japan. As of December 31, 2019 - roughly six weeks after its November 15 release - Pokemon Sword and Shield has sold 16.06 million copies.

To put that in perspective, Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, which were released a full year earlier on November 18, 2018, have sold 11.76 million copies to date. In other words, after just six weeks, Sword and Shield had already sold approximately 36% more copies than Let's Go. 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild makes for another impressive comparison. Breath of the Wild was released on March 3, 2017, and it's always been one of the best-selling Switch games. To date, it's sold 16.34 million copies, putting it around 280,000 ahead of Sword and Shield - and that's with more than a two-year head start. So yeah, mainline Pokemon games are still mighty popular. Who knew? 

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If you're curious, the best-selling Switch games of all time are Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (22.96 million copies), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (17.68 million copies), and Super Mario Odyssey (16.59 million copies). Nintendo's updated hardware figures also show that it's sold approximately 310.65 million Switch games and 52.48 million Switch consoles. The best comparison there is the 3DS, which has moved 75.71 million consoles and 382.22 million games. Not too shabby for a console that isn't even three years old. 

With the Pokemon Sword and Shield expansion pass on the horizon, the duo isn't showing any signs of slowing down.  

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.