What are the Best-Selling Pokémon Games?

Pokémon is an international phenomenon, so much greater than the sum of its parts and so much more than a simple IP. Its video games practically raised a generation of children, as did the playing and trading of its associated cards. The love that every generation feels for Pokémon is evidenced in the billions of pounds it brings Nintendo each year. It all started in 1996 with the videogames, though – games which continue to enjoy releases to this day. But which games are the best sellers amidst a pantheon of brilliant titles?

Gen 9 – Scarlet and Violet

The third-most best-selling games in the entire franchise are, as it happens, some of the most recent releases in the franchise: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. These were released on the Nintendo Switch in 2022, and reintroduced players to an open world after a not-so-popular Pokemon Legends: Arceus – an RPG set in the early days of Pokémon study, which introduced unique real-time Pokémon-battling and -catching elements.

Despite their high sales figures internationally, and though the Pokémon cards attributed to the instalments enjoy high levels of popularity amongst TCG collectors and players, both Scarlet and Violet received poor reviews from numerous critics – and from a large percentage of their player base, too.

The overriding opinion of these titles was that they were somewhat half-baked, dogged as they were by performance issues that often completely broke immersion. There was also the opinion that the titles did little to build on the refreshing conceptual changes brought in by the previous title Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Gen 8 – Sword and Shield

The second-most popular games in the franchise – by sales figures, at least – were also the previous instalments in the series. Again released on the Nintendo Switch, Pokémon Sword and Shield came out in 2019. Set in a region loosely based on our own proud nation, Pokémon Sword and Shield represented the Eighth Generation of Pokémon, and introduced Scorbunny to the wide world.

Gen 1 – Red, Blue and Green

The title of ‘best-selling Pokémon games of all time’ can only go to one generation: the first. Pokémon Red, Blue and Green constituted our very first introduction to the pixelated world of pocket monsters, and our first forays out into the Kanto region with all 151 original Pokémon.

These first instalments were a big gamble for Nintendo, and one which obviously paid off; these games spawned a phenomenon and laid the foundations to the launch of animated series, films, comics, TGC, and many other Pokémon inspired products!

Conclusion

It should come as no surprise that the earliest and most iconic iterations of the Pokémon video game series remain best-sellers. They set the stage for a great many imitators, and formed the bedrock for a series that shows no signs of slowing. The appearance of the latest – and most poorly-reviewed – Pokémon titles in this list is perhaps something of a surprise, but if anything shows the huge appetite that Pokémon fans and gamers worldwide have for new content in this thrillingly unique IP.