Even after almost 20 years, it seems that Pokémon is still at the top of the food chain.
The Pokémon Company has revealed that Pokémon X and Y have reached 12 million sales, making the latest entries into the franchise the best-selling 3DS titles to date.
Since the October 2013 release of X/Y, Pokémon has proven to still be one of Nintendo’s greatest franchises even after six generations.
Since the Pokémon franchise began in 1996, it has sold 245 million games to date.
After 20 years, the franchise is till going incredibly strong. Not only has the franchise been successful on the video game front, but it has formed an empire elsewhere. More than 20 billion Pokémon TCG cards have shipped worldwide, and the animation has been a runaway success. It airs in more than 160 countries, and has been translated in more than 30 languages, making it one of the biggest hit shows ever. Pokémon has become so ingrained on our culture that even those who do not even touch video games know what Pokémon is. How many game franchises are able to say that?
12 million copies of any game is incredibly successful. Many franchises are hoping to sell 12 million copies of their games.
What makes this all the more incredible is that Pokémon is almost 20 years old. I can only count a few franchises that are able to stay around for that long and still be able to outsell all the competitors. The series has spawned a host of copycats, and has continued to grow and outshine itself with every generation, despite some of the hate that the franchise has gotten over the last couple of generations. It has been interesting to watch the franchise grow since its early days, and I have enjoyed playing every entry. As Pokémon approaches 20 years of success, I can only wonder what Nintendo will continue to give us with the series.
