Pokémon Sun and Moon launched Nov 18, 2016 to wide critical acclaim among both reviewers and fans. The game has been selling well too. A recent report from Famitsu suggests Pokémon Sun and Moon has sold nearly 2 million copies in Japan in its first 72 hours alone.
As one NeoGAF user pointed out, Pokémon Sun and Moon pushed a combined total of 1,905,107 units during its first three days on sale in Japan. This means Pokémon Sun and Moon host the second most successful 3DS game launch in Japan. Which is quite impressive, but is shy approximately 190,000 units from the top selling 3DS game launch in the country: Pokémon X and Y, which sold 2,096,050 copies during its first week. Note that those sales numbers are solely physical retail copies, and not eShop downloads.
Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft later expanded on the Famitsu article’s translated information, pointing out that Pokemon X and Y sold 1,866,570 copies in Japan during the games’ first two days, then pushed an additional 473,151 copies during its second week. This concluded in 2,339,721 physical sales within nine days, compared to Pokémon Sun and Moon‘s current 1,905,107 in three.
It’s safe to say that Pokémon Sun or Moon aren’t falling behind their predecessors by any means. The games are selling very well and still breaking major records in Japan for best-selling 3DS titles. But Pokémon Sun and Moon follow an ongoing trend that has plagued the second half of 2016: stellar sequels to popular titles have been underperforming at launch. While it’s too early to say whether Pokémon Sun and Moon will ultimately sell less copies than their predecessors, it seems unlikely that Pokémon X and Y will be dethroned from the best-selling 3DS list any time soon. Which is a shame, because every player wants to see developers outdo themselves on the market. In the meantime, check back for more updates about Pokémon Sun, Moon and the upcoming Nintendo Switch version, Pokémon Stars.
