The Pokémon Company’s latest monster-taming RPG, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, is off to a decent start, selling almost six million copies in the first week since its launch on 16 October.
These stats come via a statement by the company, which reported that the title has already sold 5.8 million units worldwide, adding that around half of these units were for the Nintendo Switch 2. According to X/Twitter user Pierre485, this also makes Pokémon Legends: Z-A the fifth-best-selling game of the franchise, ahead of 2013’s Pokémon X and Y and 2018’s Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!
Despite its respectable sales, the newest title still falls around 200,000 sales short of the next-best-selling titles, 2019’s Pokémon Sword / Shield and 2021’s Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, which both clinched 6 million copies within a similar timeframe. These figures still come nowhere close to the number one spot occupied by 2022’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which remains unbeaten at a staggering 10 million copies sold within three days.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A marks the first game in the franchise to feature real-time battles, and is set in Lumiose City, tasking players with subduing a mysterious phenomenon where wild Pokémon spontaneously Mega Evolve and go berserk. The game was received with mixed reviews, currently sitting at a 78 critic score and 4.7 user score on Metacritic, with many criticising its bland plot and environments, alongside a lack of voice acting and boring quests.
The game is also set to receive paid post-launch content, including its Mega Dimension DLC, which will add additional story content after the completion of the main game, alongside three new Pokémon, Hoopa, Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y, when it releases sometime in the future.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
