Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Break Pokémon Sales Record

Within the first three days of their release, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet sold a combined 10 million copies. This marks a new record for the highest-selling media franchise, and the series shows no signs of waning in popularity- even over 25 years since its inception. Aside from the impressive sales figures, the discussion regarding Scarlet and Violet’s performance and graphical issues has sparked a divisive debate. With egregious frame rate drops and pop-in galore, this is a technical step down from the already criticized Pokémon Sword and Shield from 2019.

While critics and fans alike still agree that the game is largely enjoyable, the technical problems weigh down the experience massively. Considering the amount of money Pokemon as a franchise receives, it may be quite a shock to see such poor quality from the next evolution in the series. On the other hand, the decline of the series in recent years is no surprise to fans. From the mediocre at best Sword/Shield to the dumbing down of mechanics from Sun/Moon, the lack of innovation has been a big talking point. While Scarlet and Violet do bring over some of the additions from Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the majority of the experience is still stuck in the past.

So, if a 2022 release looks like an Xbox 360 game, performs like a PS2 game, and has a gameplay experience not too far removed from a Game Boy game, why does it continue to sell so well? The answer to that is quite simple: because it’s a Pokemon game. The power of the pocket monsters is still going strong and will continue to maintain its sales regardless of the lack of quality it perpetuates. Even with middling reviews from critics and the lowest user score of the series (sitting at an average 2.9 score on Metacritic), the game will continue to receive astronomical sales that will likely surpass Pokemon Sword and Shield’s 25 million.

Once again, Pokémon proves itself as a series that simply can’t fail. Regardless of technical issues on the level of Cyberpunk 2077 or the lack of any true innovations, sales will continue to roll in. It seems that Game Freak can’t get burned no matter how close they fly to the sun.