We can now finally put this debate to rest: Pokémon Legends Z-A is another smash hit for GameFreak, achieving 5.8mil sales within its first week. [Source.]

Congrats to GameFreak and Pokémon Co.! :) Yet another powerful testimony to the fact that a game doesn’t need to be the prettiest in order to achieve success.

Pokémon Legends Z-A is definitely lacking compared to modern games graphically, but it looks prettier than Legends Arceus. I've enjoyed what I played so far, but I do miss the larger scope of Arceus. Congrats to the Pokémon Company for another big launch.

Great sales.

Given that we know Legends Z-A is selling more in Japan than Arceus at launch, while its declining around 40 % in European markets like the UK and Spain from Arceus, that means sales in the US are likely pretty good for this game to only decline around 10 % from Arceus in global sales.

So European sales seems to be the outlier when it comes to Legends Z-A.

But I think that Europeans just want a better looking Pokemon. That’s why I won’t buy it.
Everyone wants better from GF. I love Nintendo but damn GameFreak is another thing.

Japan is more the " outlier" since it is only region with growth. But It represents at least 2million of the 5.8m sold

The European and UK data lacks digital, so is probably 30% decline there. US & Canada likely being the biggest market or tied with Japan is likely 15% decline.

Its sales are good everywhere. In the UK its sales were still huge even if notably less than Arceus. It's Pokemon after all.

I'm not going to celebrate a game with a $13m budget lacking care, attention and polish selling so well lol. As has been the case for the past 8 years, a franchise like pokemon deserves much better. That you can put out a subpar product and sell it on brand strength is not something to be celebrated.

Pokemon selling so well while lacking any ambition is not something I can understand why anyone would be happy about.

But aside from that, the game should have very strong holiday sales. I don't expect legs to be particularly good going into future years but it can beat Arceus lifetime even with a weaker launch.

Phenomal sales and well deserved. ZA's battle mechanics seems to be the future of the franchise and tons of care clearly went in to it. Seeing surf in the openworld brings back so many memories of seeing surf for the first time in Pokemon Stadium.

It is a game that is not for you: just accept this and move on with your life. It’s wavered around 79-80MC (and has say firmly at an 82OC), and the Pokémon fanbase is thrilled with the game from everything I can tell. And regardless of the this game's success, it is clear GF has listened to complaints, as seen by (i) what internal documents have revealed regarding future plans (e.g. their response to backlash against BDSP is to “fully remake” moving forward, Gen Nine of Pokémon will be among the first NS2 titles to be developed with an NS2 engine specifically in mind (and it’s looking reaaally good so far), Project Seed), how (ii) Z-A runs significantly smoother on NSW than all other NSW Pokémon games, and how (iii) bold Pokémon Co acted in developing this game, creating among the most experimental title in the franchise’s history.

That said, I feel I have reason to claim that your desire to see sales fall short commercially is not out of passion to see the franchise evolve— it is to see a franchise die. Not out of passion to see the studio and its devs prosper, but to follow a hate-driven bandwagon created by the internet. This is no different than me longing for the death of a game such as, for instance, Yakuza because the games are developed with a small budget and don’t receive the same love-and-care as something like God of War (2018). Or the death of Fortnite because of its highly predatory monetization strategy. Or, really, for the death of *any* gaming franchise because [insert issue].

I’m happy for those who are happy with their Pokémon game; you can simply move on if the game isn’t for you. It’s a big step up for the franchise in many many ways over previous NSW entries, and I’m glad to see such experimentation paying off.