Nintendo Switch’s pair of major holiday releases, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, are seeing early signs of sales success. This includes the first week of Pokémon and high pre-order numbers for Smash Bros.
From its November 16th launch, Pokémon: Let’s Go! sold 3 million units worldwide in one week, making the pair the fastest selling games for the Switch to date. The previous record holder was Super Mario Odyssey which launched to 2 million units worldwide in two days back in October 2017.
Furthermore, Pokémon: Let’s Go! was this Black Friday’s most popular-selling video game, above Sony’s God of War, and the fourth best-selling product overall for the United States.
By comparison, 2016’s Pokémon Sun and Moon sold over 5 million units worldwide in one week, a higher figure owing to the larger 3DS install base and the fever surrounding Pokémon GO. Pokémon X and Y, meanwhile, moved 4 million in its first week back in 2013.
While Super Smash Bros. Ultimate doesn’t (officially) launch until December 7th, it’s been confirmed to be the system’s most pre-ordered title to date. There are no hard figures available, but the word comes from Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime in an interview with The Verge.
Specifically, “the pre-sale trends for both of these titles are tracking to the best we’ve ever seen on Nintendo Switch. The consumer engagement through all of our digital activity has been exceptionally strong.”
Nintendo has high hopes over the one-two punch of Pokémon: Let’s Go! and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this holiday, as the company hopes to sell 20 million units of the Switch for the fiscal year 2019, and these two games are a means to easily achieve those ends.
