A new financial report from Nintendo Japan has revealed that Pokémon Legends: Z-A is selling at record speeds on the Switch 2. PLZA is selling so well, it’s actually on track to surpass Pokémon Legends: Arceus lifetime sales in just two months. Here are the current Pokémon game sales as of 2026.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A Sales Reach 12.3 Million Units
Nintendo Japan recently updated its financials website, which includes software sales. As of December 31, 2025, Pokémon Legends: Z-A has sold a total of 12.3 million units. However, the figure that is raising the eyebrows of some fans is that the PLZA Switch 2 edition appears to have only sold 3.8 million units.
On the surface, it appears that only 43% of Pokémon Legends: Z-A sales were on the new Switch 2 console. So this would mean the new Kalos region RPGs only sold 8.6 million units on the original Nintendo Switch, right? Not necessarily.
Why Switch 2 Sales Numbers Are Misleading
You see, Nintendo actually files Switch 2 digital sales under “Nintendo Switch Software.” Meaning, we don’t actually know how many units the Pokémon Legends: Z-A Switch 2 edition has sold. The 3.8 million units listed are only for the physical edition. I don’t know about you, but most people in my life only buy digitally in 2026, so this isn’t that surprising.
However, the real story here is that Pokémon Legends: Z-A is already on track to beat Pokémon Legends: Arceus. As of 2024, Arceus has only sold 15 million units. So PLZA is on pace to outsell the previous Legends title in just two months after launch. That’s crazy. Although it should be pointed out that Nintendo stopped giving us sales numbers for Pokémon Legends: Arceus back in 2024, so we don’t actually know its final sales.
Pokémon Fans React to Switch 2 Sales Confusion
Many Pokémon fans initially reacted to the Pokémon Legends: Z-A Switch 2 edition sales with surprise. Some expected the Switch 2 edition sales to be a lot stronger, given it’s a much superior version of the game. But in all fairness, the Switch 2 console had only been out for five months at this point and costs $499. The original Nintendo Switch also still has a massive player base.
Regardless, Pokémon fans took to social media to share their reactions. “Last Pokémon I bought was Arceus. I was excited for Megas, but just didn’t feel it for Pokémon Legends: Z-A for some reason,” a user on Reddit wrote, for example. Another commenter replied, “I can’t justify buying a Switch 2 just yet. I’m guessing most people are in the same boat.”
Pokémon Game Sales Compared (Updated 2026 Rankings)
With Pokémon Legends: Z-A seemingly being a smash hit, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at previous Pokémon game sales. It should come as no surprise that the original Pokémon Red and Blue from 1998 still reign supreme at number one. Although those sales also include Japan’s Pokémon Green, which launched in 1996.
However, the biggest surprise to some fans is just how successful the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games were. Despite only launching in 2022, they’ve already sold a staggering 28 million units and could eventually even overtake the Gen 1 classics.
Here are Pokémon game sales units as of December 31, 2025:
- Red/Green/Blue: 31,380,000
- Scarlet/Violet: 28,080,000
- Sword/Shield: 27,080,000
- Gold/Silver: 23,700,000
- Diamond/Pearl: 17,670,000
- X/Y: 16,780,000
- Sun/Moon: 16,330,000
- Ruby/Sapphire: 16,220,000
- Black/White: 15,640,000
- Let’s Go, Pikachu!/Let’s Go, Eevee: 15,070,000
- Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: 15,060,000
- Legends: Arceus: 15,000,000
- Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire: 14,670,000
- Yellow: 14,640,000
- HeartGold/SoulSilver: 12,720,000
- Legends: Z-A: 12,300,000
- FireRed/LeafGreen: 12,000,000
- Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon: 9,260,000
- Black 2/White 2: 8,250,000
- Platinum: 7,693,000
- Emerald: 7,060,000
- Crystal: 6,300,000
My main takeaway from all of this is that Pokémon Generation games are clearly the most popular titles in the franchise. It makes me wonder just how massive Pokémon Gen 10 will be. With rumors that Pokémon Wind and Wave is a Switch 2 exclusive, it will be interesting to see if it can move as many units as Scarlet and Violet did. Keep in mind, Gen 9 Pokémon released five years into the life cycle of the Switch, so the install base was already massive by that point.
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