Pokemon Legends: Z-A Has Super-Effective Start, Already Selling 5.8 Million Copies

It’s probably not a Pikachu shock to report that Pokemon is still popular. Case in point: After a week, Pokemon Legends: Z-A has already sold 5.8 million copies. The Pokemon Company^[1] revealed the launch figures in a press release, adding that roughly half of sales came from the Switch 2 Edition^[2].

The Pokemon Legends: Z-A sales numbers also include digital copies. As such, the Switch 2 bundle with the RPG^[3] is a boost, though Switch overall hardware sales clearly dwarf the new Switch 2 (153 million compared to 6 million^[4]).

This is the second Pokemon Legends game. In early 2022, Pokemon Legends Arceus sold 6.5 million copies in its first week^[9], outpacing Pokemon Legends: Z-A so far. At the time, that was the best debut ever for a Pokemon game. However, later in 2022, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sold 10 million copies in just three days^[10], shattering the record. All of these games have helped push the Pokemon franchise to almost half a billion copies sold^[11].

Pokemon Legends: Z-A launched on October 16 for Switch and Switch 2. The game’s name lets you know this is more a sequel to Pokemon X and Y^[12] instead of Arceus. Looking ahead, Pokemon Legends Z-A will get paid DLC called Mega Dimension^[13].

For more, check out GameSpot’s Pokemon Legends: Z-A review^[14]. We also have a guides hub^[15] to help trainers on their adventure in Lumiose City.