While it was common knowledge even prior to the release of Pokemon Sun and Moon last year that interest in the series was at an all-time high, it’s only now that Nintendo has made public an official sales figure to go along with the fact. As of December 31, 2016, combined sales of the 3DS games have reached 14.69 million units, a massive number whichever way you look at it, but considering the two titles had only been out for a little over a month as of that date, the figure is all the more impressive.
Announced as part of the company’s year-end financial highlights (via VG247), the top selling software chart reveals that the two games slot nicely into third place in the 3DS’ highest-selling titles, behind Mario Kart 7 and Pokemon X and Y at number 2 and 1, respectively.
Sales of Mario Kart 7 currently sit at 14.82 million units, however, so it’s probably safe to assume that Sun and Moon will (if they haven’t already) surpass the handheld racing title in the near future. 2013’s Pokemon X and Y, on the other hand, have sold a whopping 16.06 million copies, so there’s still a ways to go until last year’s releases can claim the top spot.
While the impact it had on Sun and Moon’s popularity and subsequent success will likely never be discernible, Niantic’s mobile game Pokemon GO undoubtedly contributed to the former’s success, with Nintendo stating in its financial report (via Video Gamer), that:
The release of the smart device application Pokemon GO led to increased sales of software in the Pokemon series released in the past and drove Nintendo 3DS family hardware sales growth, particularly outside of Japan.
The future’s certainly bright for one of the games industry’s most beloved franchises then, but what does the future hold? It’s likely that The Pokemon Company will be busy supporting Pokemon Sun and Moon‘s competitive and online features for a good while yet before it starts thinking about any sort of follow-up, but assuming it follows suit with what’s come before, we imagine the next games in line will be remakes of 2006’s Diamond and Pearl. That is, of course, assuming it isn’t too busy banning swathes of cheaters on a regular basis.
