By: Hy Luu

Date November 28, 2022

SAN JOSE, CALIF. –Released on Nov. 18, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet is the newest addition to the Pokémon franchise that broke Nintendo’s sales records right after release. Although the game was poorly received by fans, it became one of Nintendo’s best sellers in just three days.

Graph of Pokémon Scarlet/Violet sales by Statistica (all rights reserved for Statistica)

Pokémon S/V will feature an open world 3-D experience, just like their previous installment Pokémon Arceus. However, it will include their newest 9th generation Pokémon and a new gimmick mechanic “crystallize”.

The game has been criticized for its poor optimization and crashes on the Nintendo Switch, as it is a Switch exclusive. In addition, the game has been under fire for its “lackluster graphics” as fans compared it to the likes of Nintendo’s IP Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which just released earlier this year with superior graphics and  optimization on the switch.

In just three days the game has amassed a record breaking 10 million sales and made over an estimated $600 million in revenue. In comparison, one of the most anticipated games, Elden Ring, had 12 million sales over the course of three months.

But during the sale of Pokémon S/V fans have notice the implications of its large success, One of them is that the Pokémon IP has been so predominant, even in the face of a “glaring bugs and un-optimization” fans will still ultimately shell out for the series. Another implication is that Game Freak only has to innovate every few decade to top the sales chart, fans have been comparing the innovation of Pokémon S/V to games like Elden ring where it is a culmination of their previous games tying in with open world “Pokémon S/V and Arceus’s open world didn’t feel very fleshed out and felt very dull”. But that didn’t stop it from almost beating the Elden ring in just a few days.

One of the reasons why this game is a big deal to SCHS is because that many students have a switch as it became a household console in the last few years, and that Pokémon’s target demographic fits man of the students currently enrolled to SCHS.