Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee sold 664k units in Japan, Switch 180k units for week 46 2018

BassForever · Nov 21, 2018

lost7 said:
I expect the game to have great legs, so the first three days are not telling the whole story. Add to that the higher price and a larger share of digital sales and I'm sure Let's Go is making a lot of money.

Still, the whole "attach rate" comparison seems to be slightly flawed to say the least...

Anyways, fantastic hardware numbers.

Attach rate % is a better comparison then just raw 3 day sales. Either way trying to compare the lgp/e sales to other pokemon games is tough when lgp/e are more expensive games on more expensive hardware. I don't recall people crying bomba for Monster Hunter World when it sold half the number week one compared to Monster Hunter 4 and the other 3ds MH titles (I'm sure some did but that's besides the point).

joe_zazen · Nov 21, 2018

Seik said:
Looks like good numbers to me.

Why do people compare it to previous X/Y/S/M? The Switch's install base is exponentially lower than the 3DS's.

Switch is at like 23M while 3DS is at 70M. Of course you'll have lower numbers on launch week.

We shouldnt compare it to other Pokemon games? Or is it passing judgement that is wrong?

I find it interesting.

Aleh · Nov 21, 2018

IHaveIce said:
People who disregard the installbase argument have to be pretty hellbent on hating this game.

Installbase+higher price+remake+actually a bit of bad reputation before launch. All points will have made their job, but it is still pretty impressive.

Actually I was also very unhappy with the game prior to release but think a lot of stuff in the game after playing it is better than the last main entries. Sun and Moon were garbage compared to this. I would like the option to battle wild pokemon again but everything else is an improvement.

Only the graphics and artstyle hold it back for me.

Back to the sales, the game will do pretty good over time. Comparing it to 3ds or hell even DS games is stupid though.

People hellbent on hating on Let's Go aren't any different than you calling Sun and Moon garbage while they both reviewed and sold much better than Let's Go. How about everyone stops whining about other people's preferences?

Deleted member 2791 · Nov 21, 2018

Renna Hazel said:
So I'm just gonna point out that you yourself said the numbers were weak on the very first page of this thread. So I guess you can answer you own question.

I never once said that the numbers were "very weak" as you said.
I just said it wasn't that good.
The number itself is still largely decent, we're talking about 700k digital included and likely the biggest switch launch.

joe_zazen · Nov 21, 2018

Braaier said:
Pokemon did that to Switch sales! Wow, very impressive! And we all know Pokemon will have some serious legs

I thought that too, someone mentioned the limited Smash Switch hardware released at the same time tho, so hard to say how much of an effect go had.

Waluigilicious · Nov 21, 2018

OrbitalBeard said:
Very few people are saying a lower install base is the only reason for lower sales. Just one factor worth mentioning. I think hardware price is another big reason as well. Also the fact that this is a different type of mainline entry aiming at a more casual audience. There are lots of reasons why it sold the way it did.

Oh of course, there's always a reason why something sells the way it does. Some posts seemed to just come in and say lower install base means these are great sales, when in reality that hardly means anything.

Deleted member 3017 · Nov 21, 2018

Waluigilicious said:
Oh of course, there's always a reason why something sells the way it does. Some posts seemed to just come in and say lower install base means these are great sales, when in reality that hardly means anything.

yeah, they're definitely not GREAT sales. I'd say they're decent / good. Legs will ultimately determine how much of a success this is. Should be interesting to see how it performs long-term compared to other Pokemon games.

Renna Hazel · Nov 21, 2018

LordKano said:
I never once said that the numbers were "very weak" as you said.
I just said it wasn't that good.
The number itself is still largely decent, we're talking about 700k digital included and likely the biggest switch launch.

I said they were weak....you said they weren't good. That's the same thing. I'm not going to argue semantics here if we agree that the numbers aren't very good for Pokemon.

Zedark · Nov 21, 2018

Immaculate said:
where can I see this? not that i dont believe you I just want to know where its coming from lol

Here. Chris has great insight into retail information and pre-order information from retailers, so his comments are to be taken seriously.

NotLiquid · Nov 21, 2018

alcabcucu said:
HEY, LISTEN!

Hardware sales INCLUDE the Smash Bros. Ultimate bundle that was released this week. This explains the high numbers, making more difficult to know if Pokémon has moved a lot of hardware or not.

Second. This Pokémon is not a CORE title in the franchise. It is very important to know this before making any predictions or having any realistic expectations.

Third. This Pokémon is the second best first-week launch for Nintendo Switch in Japan, only surpassed by Splatoon 2. And it has all the Christmas period to increase its sales.

We'll see what happens, but initial sales are good, that's for sure (even above my expectations, I have to say).

Best regards.

Pokemon had a bundle too.

z0m3le · Nov 21, 2018

Nuclear Muffin said:
Not a good software result. It's the lowest first weekend for any Pokemon remake in Japan by quite a margin... (and no, the userbase size alone does not tell the story; Mario Odyssey and Splatoon 2 opened to similar numbers and the Switch userbase is certainly large enough to support a stronger opening at this point - as Smash Bros Ultimate will prove in just a few weeks time).

That being said, the hardware bump is very good though! Implying that a big chunk of Let's Go players are not part of the normal Pokemon audience, but rather are primarily Pokemon Go players. Bodes well for Gen 8 in that case!

Considering Let's Go is designed to bring in new gamers, and the new Switch owners tied to this Software release is higher than other Pokemon games, it seems to be working. If this is pulling in Pokemon Go players, that is all it really needs for it to exist, and it's not like it hasn't already cleared 2 Million world wide, not the 4 Million that X&Y did, but it's also not a mainline Pokemon game.

Galkinator · Nov 21, 2018

Could be better, it's up to the legs now

Braaier · Nov 21, 2018

joe_zazen said:
I thought that too, someone mentioned the limited Smash Switch hardware released at the same time tho, so hard to say how much of an effect go had.

Oh, that's right. Thanks for the reminder.

Switch sales will come back down to earth next week, but the baseline should be up from the past several months. Maybe 80k/week? Total guess.

Sterok · Nov 21, 2018

Okay, but not impressive. Other Switch games had no problem surpassing their predecessors' first week even with a high price and low install base, so I don't think this can just be said to be a great success like it is in the UK. Pokeball controller makes the revenue good though. Smash will have a much, much higher debut.

alcabcucu · Nov 21, 2018

NotLiquid said:
Pokemon had a bundle too.

I know. But my point is that the Smash Bros. Ultimate bundle has to be taken into account for the 180k sales this week. It is going to be difficult to know the real impact of this Pokémon on the hardware sales, unless MC or Famitsu specify the sales of each bundle.

joe_zazen · Nov 21, 2018

BassForever said:
Attach rate % is a better comparison then just raw 3 day sales. Either way trying to compare the lgp/e sales to other pokemon games is tough when lgp/e are more expensive games on more expensive hardware. I don't recall people crying bomba for Monster Hunter World when it sold half the number week one compared to Monster Hunter 4 and the other 3ds MH titles (I'm sure some did but that's besides the point).

I dont think the move to ps4 was in anyway good for the health of MH in jpn, so it kinda was a bomba there. But, as with LetsGo, it is worldwide numbers that matter. And JPN tastes dont line up well with other countries, so while JPN LG numbers might be seen as OKish, that doesnt mean WW might not be stellar. Benji from Bestbuy is very bullish on USA numbers, for example.

I still think LetsGo is going to do better than next mainline worldwide because of Pokemon Go. Maybe not launch numbers, but over the course of the rest of the generation.

DecoReturns · Nov 21, 2018

Good sales.

Mcjmetroid · Nov 21, 2018

Atheerios said:
This thread will be home to lots of hot takes...

I agree. This could have and should have been one of the biggest Pokemon games of all time.

Edit: responded to the wrong quote! my mistake

Deleted member 2791 · Nov 21, 2018

alcabcucu said:
I know. But my point is that the Smash Bros. Ultimate bundle has to be taken into account for the 180k sales this week. It is going to be difficult to know the real impact of this Pokémon on the hardware sales, unless MC or Famitsu specify the sales of each bundle.

MC does sometimes. We'll have to see.

Soran · Nov 21, 2018

What are the individual sales for each version?

ffdgh · Nov 21, 2018

Nice hardware sales.

joe_zazen · Nov 21, 2018

Mcjmetroid said:
I agree. This could have and should have been one of the biggest Pokemon games of all time.

Edit: responded to the wrong quote! my mistake

Story isnt over yet! Pokemon Go is by far the biggest PK game ever (playerbase and revenue) so lets wait to see if LetsGo benefits long term. Still expecting a NTDOY stock bump.

Deleted member 3010 · Nov 21, 2018

joe_zazen said:
We shouldnt compare it to other Pokemon games? Or is it passing judgement that is wrong?

I find it interesting.

Judgement, I'm talking about people thinking these are bad numbers, not the comparison itself.

hussien-11 · Nov 21, 2018

Sales are weak compared to other main Pokemon titles. user-base argument is not convincing to me at all. Splatoon 2 sold almost the same more than a year ago. also the game almost matched X/Y performance in UK despite the difference in said user-base.
i guess the game is behaving closer to a main game outside of Japan, while in Japan maybe the fanbase didn't like the changes, and it seems that Japanese audience usually don't like change much.

Tito · Nov 21, 2018

[rollseyes]
POKEMON LET'S GO HAS HUUUUUGE FW SALES

A great release for the new Pokemon game shows excitement among gamers.

According to the new way to measure sales on popular gaming forum Resetera, it has now beaten Bomberman R, and claims the crown to the 6th best FW release on Switch.

This pie chart shows you the game and the FW sales, in attach rate form.

So, congratulations on beating Bomberman R and Arms.[/rollseyes]

BOTW: 57%
Splatoon 2: 54%
MK8DX: 37%
12 Switch: 24%
Odyssey: 23%
PKMN LG: 12%
Bomberman: 11%
Arms: 10%

Attach rate at 5 million units sold is a terrible way to explain disappointing sales.

(OK, I'm out)
(sorry for small text on pie chart, should have added total Switch sales somewhere there)

Deleted member 3017 · Nov 21, 2018

Tito said:
[rollseyes]
POKEMON LET'S GO HAS HUUUUUGE FW SALES

A great release for the new Pokemon game shows excitement among gamers.

According to the new way to measure sales on popular gaming forum Resetera, it has now beaten Bomberman R, and claims the crown to the 6th best FW release on Switch.

This pie chart shows you the game and the FW sales, in attach rate form.

So, congratulations on beating Bomberman R and Arms.[/rollseyes]

BOTW: 57%
Splatoon 2: 54%
MK8DX: 37%
12 Switch: 24%
Odyssey: 23%
PKMN LG: 12%
Bomberman: 11%
Arms: 10%

Attach rate at 5 million units sold is a terrible way to explain disappointing sales.

(OK, I'm out)
(sorry for small text on pie chart, should have added total Switch sales somewhere there)

no bias tho
also very level-headed

jariw · Nov 21, 2018

hussien-11 said:
Sales are weak compared to other main Pokemon titles.

What do you mean by "other main"? Let's Go is just a remake, not a new main entry game.

Deleted member 2791 · Nov 21, 2018

Tito said:
(OK, I'm out)

thanks god you are because i have rarely seen a chart as ignorant and misleading as this one
comparing attach rates of games that released at launch/around launch window with a game releasing almost two year and 5 millions later ? in what kind of alternate reality do you live

The Emperor · Nov 21, 2018

Meh sales but who knows what we should have been expecting

First traditional mainlineish Pokemon game on a home console

GuEiMiRrIRoW · Nov 21, 2018

There are problems with your logic:

A) only 3 days of sales
B) no digital numbers.

Phellps · Nov 21, 2018

Tito said:
[rollseyes]
POKEMON LET'S GO HAS HUUUUUGE FW SALES

A great release for the new Pokemon game shows excitement among gamers.

According to the new way to measure sales on popular gaming forum Resetera, it has now beaten Bomberman R, and claims the crown to the 6th best FW release on Switch.

This pie chart shows you the game and the FW sales, in attach rate form.

So, congratulations on beating Bomberman R and Arms.[/rollseyes]

BOTW: 57%
Splatoon 2: 54%
MK8DX: 37%
12 Switch: 24%
Odyssey: 23%
PKMN LG: 12%
Bomberman: 11%
Arms: 10%

Attach rate at 5 million units sold is a terrible way to explain disappointing sales.

(OK, I'm out)
(sorry for small text on pie chart, should have added total Switch sales somewhere there)

Imagine being this emotionally invested in the failure of a game.

Jbone115 · Nov 21, 2018

Tito said:
[rollseyes]
POKEMON LET'S GO HAS HUUUUUGE FW SALES

A great release for the new Pokemon game shows excitement among gamers.

According to the new way to measure sales on popular gaming forum Resetera, it has now beaten Bomberman R, and claims the crown to the 6th best FW release on Switch.

This pie chart shows you the game and the FW sales, in attach rate form.

So, congratulations on beating Bomberman R and Arms.[/rollseyes]

BOTW: 57%
Splatoon 2: 54%
MK8DX: 37%
12 Switch: 24%
Odyssey: 23%
PKMN LG: 12%
Bomberman: 11%
Arms: 10%

Attach rate at 5 million units sold is a terrible way to explain disappointing sales.

(OK, I'm out)
(sorry for small text on pie chart, should have added total Switch sales somewhere there)

This is embarrassing.

lost7 · Nov 21, 2018

LordKano said:
thanks god you are because i have rarely seen a chart as ignorant and misleading as this one
comparing attach rates of games that released at launch/around launch window with a game releasing almost two year and 5 millions later ? in what kind of alternate reality do you live

I think that's exactly his point. Comparing attach rates is disingeneous because a big game releasing earlier in a console's life will almost always have an higher attach rate higher than when the installbase is larger.

Doesn't change the fact that that was a pretty cringe post, though

hussien-11 · Nov 21, 2018

jariw said:
What do you mean by "other main"? Let's Go is just a remake, not a new main entry game.

It is not marketed as a remake, and it incorporates fundamental changes to how a Pokemon game is played. it is what Nintendo hopes to be a new "base" for the series for the upcoming 20 years.

Deleted member 30151 · Nov 21, 2018

The Emperor said:
Meh sales but who knows what we should have been expecting

Undwhelming at first, but not on second sight. Many points were already named here with the most important ones for the japanese market "Remake and Spin-Off". I'm more than confident that this game will show long legs. Would be strange if sales will drop to 90% and vanish from the Top 20 just two weeks after launch. But I will be pretty sure that this will not happen. It will be a big seller among with Smash Bros. during holiday season. Yes, even in Japan.

LinkStrikesBack · Nov 21, 2018

BassForever said:
Attach rate % is a better comparison then just raw 3 day sales.

I'm really not convinced it is. High Attach rates get exponentially harder to reach the further in to a consoles life you are and this game is launching about a year earlier in the systems life than normal.

alcabcucu · Nov 21, 2018

Jbone115 said:
This is embarrassing.

It certainly is. I do not understand this kind of behaviour.

jariw · Nov 21, 2018

hussien-11 said:
It is not marketed as a remake, and it incorporates fundamental changes to how a Pokemon game is played. it is what Nintendo hopes to be a new "base" for the series for the upcoming 20 years.

Doesn't the spinoff games always incorporate major changes to how the Pokemon games are played? And they have been very clear that this is a Gen1-only game (plus one Gen 7 pokemon). It's not marketed as a mainline game.

Waluigilicious · Nov 21, 2018

LordKano said:
thanks god you are because i have rarely seen a chart as ignorant and misleading as this one
comparing attach rates of games that released at launch/around launch window with a game releasing almost two year and 5 millions later ? in what kind of alternate reality do you live

Exactly though, attach rate should not be a major part of this discussion, if at all.

Pablo Mesa · Nov 21, 2018

Nuclear Muffin said:
Not a good software result. It's the lowest first weekend for any Pokemon remake in Japan by quite a margin... (and no, the userbase size alone does not tell the story; Mario Odyssey and Splatoon 2 opened to similar numbers and the Switch userbase is certainly large enough to support a stronger opening at this point - as Smash Bros Ultimate will prove in just a few weeks time).

That being said, the hardware bump is very good though! Implying that a big chunk of Let's Go players are not part of the normal Pokemon audience, but rather are primarily Pokemon Go players. Bodes well for Gen 8 in that case!

given that this is not a main pokemon game. userbase size is the lowest among the other comparisons and it did actually manage to move units. I would wager Nintendo is happy, cause this game was more like a bait to lure mobile players into buying a switch than actually a "proper" new gen pokemon

Deleted member 2791 · Nov 21, 2018

Waluigilicious said:
Exactly though, attach rate should not be a major part of this discussion, if at all.

They should be with comparable userbases.
Like Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Or Pokémon X/Y to a lesser extent.

Deleted member 426 · Nov 21, 2018

Waluigilicious said:
Exactly though, attach rate should not be a major part of this discussion, if at all.

What a silly thing to say

KillerMan91 · Nov 21, 2018

Ah. The old Install base argument. Just few weeks from now and Smash will launch with record first week sales despite having much smaller install base than 3DS and WiiU combined when Smash launched on those platforms. If you have healthy enough install base (like Switch has) and game people want to really buy it really doesn't have that big effect on first week sales.

Principate · Nov 21, 2018

Tito said:
[rollseyes]
POKEMON LET'S GO HAS HUUUUUGE FW SALES

A great release for the new Pokemon game shows excitement among gamers.

According to the new way to measure sales on popular gaming forum Resetera, it has now beaten Bomberman R, and claims the crown to the 6th best FW release on Switch.

This pie chart shows you the game and the FW sales, in attach rate form.

So, congratulations on beating Bomberman R and Arms.[/rollseyes]

BOTW: 57%
Splatoon 2: 54%
MK8DX: 37%
12 Switch: 24%
Odyssey: 23%
PKMN LG: 12%
Bomberman: 11%
Arms: 10%

Attach rate at 5 million units sold is a terrible way to explain disappointing sales.

(OK, I'm out)
(sorry for small text on pie chart, should have added total Switch sales somewhere there)

What is this Polygon level chart?

LegendofLex · Nov 21, 2018

Couple things that make it really difficult to assess FW numbers:

- Switch had HW shortages last year, so the bigger HW # for Let's Go might mean less than it appears to (i.e. very clear that Pokémon sold systems, but unclear if it's more effective at that than, say, Splatoon 2)
- Hard to compare how much purchase intent among existing install base differs across games/consoles (i.e. existing Switch owners might be very different group vs. existing 3DS owners when XY came out; this uncertainty also impacts comps to past Switch games like Splatoon/Mario)

Astandahl · Nov 21, 2018

jariw said:
Doesn't the spinoff games always incorporate major changes to how the Pokemon games are played? And they have been very clear that this is a Gen1-only game (plus one Gen 7 pokemon). It's not marketed as a mainline game.

What do you mean for " spinoff"? Games like Fire Red , Soul Silver , Oras ? If that is the case the none of them had massive changes like Let's Go.

sfortunato · Nov 21, 2018

Also, comparing attach rates of games releasing at launch or near launch doesnt' make any sense.

entremet · Nov 21, 2018

Wow a week's worth of data! Stop the presses lol.

>__ · Nov 21, 2018

The spinning in this thread is unbelievable:

Code:

Title     FW
3DS     Pokémon X / Y                          2.096.050
3DS     Pokémon Sun / Moon                     1.905.107
3DS     Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire    1.534.593
3DS     Pokémon Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon         1.199.814

Lowest Pokemon opening in a long while. There's no two ways about the disappointing sales in JP, unless you akin Pokemon Lets Go as something like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games.

SW is capable of housing near 2 and 3 million sellers so its not about the size of the install base rather than those that are interested in Go.

Attach rates trend down as systems get older and install bases grow so that Bloomberg bar chart is a poor analysis.

One would think they would be near the remake sales but Lets Go is nearly 50% down on remake sales.

On the other hand, at least this is not the mainline Switch game but a stop gap to it.[/code]

Deleted member 426 · Nov 21, 2018

Astandahl said:
What do you mean for " spinoff"? Games like Fire Red , Soul Silver , Oras ? If that is the case the none of them had massive changes like Let's Go.

Let's Go is no more a spin off than the previous remakes is the point he's making correctly.

Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee sold 664k units in Japan, Switch 180k units for week 46 2018

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