Pokémon Dominates UK Sales Charts

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This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

There may be a lot of controversy around Pokémon Sword and Shield at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped UK players from buying the game in their droves.

Pokémon Sword topped the UK sales charts this week, pipping EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order which also launched on Friday to the top spot. Pokémon Shield came in third, with the double pack charting at number 7. The strong launch puts Pokémon Sword as the third biggest boxed release this year, behind the inevitable pairing of FIFA and Call of Duty.

Combined, Sword and Shield sold 53% more in their opening weekend than Let’s Go managed last year. They also shifted 33% more copies than Black and White on the DS, though failed to topple Pokémon Sun and Moon, owing to those games releasing on a Wednesday and thus having a few extra days to find their way into people’s collections.

With Luigi’s Mansion 3 still going strong at number 6, the perennial Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at number 9 and another strong week for Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020, Nintendo held 6 of the top 10 best-selling games of the week with Switch exclusives.

Here’s that top ten in full:

  1. Pokémon Sword

  2. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

  3. Pokémon Shield

  4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

  5. FIFA 20

  6. Luigi’s Mansion 3

  7. Pokémon Sword and Shield: Dual Edition

  8. Death Stranding

  9. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

  10. Mario & Sonic At The Tokyo Olympic Games 2020

Source: GamesIndustry.biz