Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have officially become the second-best-selling games in the franchise’s history, surpassing Sword and Shield to sit just behind the original Red, Green, and Blue.
According to Nintendo’s latest financial report, Scarlet and Violet have sold more than 27.61 million copies worldwide as of September 30, 2025.
That puts the Gen 9 games comfortably ahead of Sword and Shield’s 26.96 million but still far behind Red, Green, and Blue, which have sold a combined 31.38 million copies since release in 1998.
Comparison with other Pokemon games
Scarlet and Violet’s continued success is despite a notoriously turbulent debut, with players initially criticizing the games for technical issues and performance drops. Even so, the ninth-generation entries became the fastest-selling titles in series history, selling 10 million copies within their first three days.
In comparing up-to-date sales figures for all the mainline Pokemon games, Serebii webmaster Joe Merrick noted that Legends Z-A‘s comparatively low sales represented a small sales window of four days. Legends Arceus, released in 2022, sits at a flat 15 million total sales.
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