Pokemon Scarlet And Violet Dominated Japan’s Retail Sales In 2022

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are the first anticipated entries in the 9th-generation Pokemon games. The series opted for an open-world approach for the first time, adding over 109 new Pokemons to its bewitching world. The title proved to be a global success despite some issues, and it rolled over millions of copies in just a few weeks.

However, no one expected a game released so close to the end of the year to overshadow the other behemoths in the Japanese retail sales charts last year. Regardless, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have won another trophy by doing the unthinkable, as revealed in the latest Famitsu report. 

The open-world Pokemon games have infallibly loomed over every other title on the Japanese retail charts by a mile, showcasing its significance despite lingering hindrances reported by the community.

Major Takeaway

• Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have together sold over 4 million copies since its release last year, nearly eight weeks ago. They dominated the top spots and overshadowed the other games by a wide margin.
• Splatoon 3 amassed a gigantic 3.6 million retail sales in Japan last year and accepted the second spot after being dethroned.
• The portable Nintendo Switch rolled over 4.8 million consoles last year alone, and its sales are still considerably higher in contrast to other consoles.
• The PlayStation 5 rolled over more units than the Xbox Series family last year; the PlayStation 5 sold 1.1 million copies in contrast to Xbox’s consoles, which stood at 269 thousand units sold.

Game Freak’s Pokemon Scarlet and Violet collectively rolled over 4,338,931 units since its eventful inception on November 18th, 2022. The number is huge for how recently the titles were released; these are just the retail sales, both the digital and retail sales combined would easily amass over a few more million without any hitches.

The 9th-generation entries hogged the top spot by selling 651,117 copies more than Splatoon 3, another highly prominent release of 2022 in Japan and worldwide. Splatoon 3 humbly accepted second place after being dethroned by Pokemon Scarlet and Violet by selling a total of 3,687,814 units last year.

Both Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games have surpassed their previous works by a staggering margin. Game Freak’s Pokemon Sword and Shield released in 2019 collectively amalgamated for a gigantic 2.988 million figure in annual sales.

Comparatively, Splatoon 3 was also reported to cross its predecessor in yearly annual recorded sales by a notable edge. These entries have proven to be a great enhancement in terms of features, visuals, gameplay, and in many other factors over their precursors. Likewise, their favor has also been reflected in sales and ratings.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have monopolized the Japanese retail sales charts for 7 weeks and 5 days ever since their release; the previous contender, Splatoon 3, was dethroned for the rest of the year. However, Splatoon 3 also had a great run for several consistent weeks against the other titles until it was overtaken.

The 8th-generation Pokemon Legends: Arceus, released last year, pilfered the third spot by selling over a decent 2,314,806 copies. Kirby and the Forgotten Land took the fourth spot and sold nearly a million copies by compiling over 969,047 copies in Japan’s retail sales.

On the hardware side, the Nintendo Switch family massively vanquished the competition by piling over nearly 5 million sales. The handhelds collectively marketed over 4,804,549 (27,724,047 total) units in Japan’s retail sales charts last year.

The minuscule gaps were filled by Sony’s next-gen PlayStation 5, as it sold over 1,154,054 (2.377.389 total) consoles last year in Japan. The sales were stagnant due to the semiconductor shortages, which started being dealt with during the second part of 2022. Jim Ryan is seemingly flooding the Asian market with PS5s this year.

Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox Series X and the Series S sold the lowest last year in contrast to the rest of the competition. The Xbox Series family together rolled over only 269.737 (398.395 so far) consoles in Japan during the whole of 2022. The Xbox consoles are not as popular in Japan, and the sales have mirrored that last year.

The last-gen PlayStation 4 survived on a ventilator by selling a considerable 22.823 (9.417.767 total units) amount during 2022 in Japan. Nintendo 3DS was also purchased by over 10.449 (24.597.897 total) nostalgic fans of the console.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were lauded for their new features and the open world but garnered backlash for moderate visual and performance issues. It is fair to say that these are series’ both the franchise’s best and worst Pokemon titles.

However, Nintendo has apologized and allocated updates to handle the bugs, but the future will reveal whether the 9th-generation entries can find their lost aspirations.

What are your thoughts about the new alluring Pokemon Scarlet and Violet dominating the Japanese retail sales charts despite releasing them near the end of 2022? Do you think the first open-world Pokemon games have proven to be a triumph for the overall series? Do let us know your opinions in the comments below.

Similar Reads: Nine Out Of Every Ten Video Games Sold Were Digital In The UK Last Year.