The GFK published the bestselling games in the UK for the week ending in November 19th, giving us our first sales data for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Both Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl occupied the Top 2 spots in the UK boxed sales charts for last week, with the double pack occupying the 9th spot. GFK has also revealed that this made the games the biggest Switch game launches of 2021, beating out Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.
Taken together, both Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are now the second biggest boxed launch of 2021 across all platforms, ahead of Call of Duty: Vanguard and just behind FIFA 2022.
Not a great sign for Arceus?
Compared to the other two mainline games launched on Nintendo Switch, launch sales for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were 26% lower than Pokemon Sword And Shield but 13% higher than Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Eevee, which suggests that players still prefer a more traditional Pokemon experience compared to one that is more experimental, but still favor a brand new game over a remake.
It will be interesting to see how all the games compare when Pokemon Legends Arceus launches next year.
GFK Top Ten bestsellers last week
- Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
- Pokémon Shining Pearl
- Battlefield 2042
- Call of Duty: Vanguard
- FIFA 22
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Mario Kart 8: Deluxe
- Far Cry 6
- Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Double Pack
- Just Dance 2022
