Now that a generally reliable leak has indicated that Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald are coming to Switch consoles in late September or October, it’s worth pointing out that Pokemon Sapphire is likely to outsell Pokemon Ruby. Of course, Pokemon Emerald is the special Third Edition, and it will likely outsell its two predecessors, but when looking at the two OG Gen 3 games, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire are the prime example of a long-standing trend.
It’s worth noting, before delving into this trend, that it is based on sales within Japan and then extrapolated to its worldwide audience. In general, worldwide Pokemon sales are often clumped together with both games, and that has become the case for even Japan sales in recent releases. For example, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are the best-selling Pokemon games in series history in Japan, selling over 8.3 million units, but the exact sales of Scarlet and the exact sales of Violet are unknown. Based on sales trends, however, it’s as likely that Pokemon Violet outsold Pokemon Scarlet—just as it is that Pokemon Sapphire outsells Pokemon Ruby.
Pokemon Ruby vs. Sapphire in Sales
Prior to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, however, the sales figures for each Pokemon game within Japan are known. In this case, it’s worth noting that the original release of Pokemon Sapphire outsold Pokemon Ruby, and on that basis alone, there’s no reason to expect any sort of divergence. That’s the case for any version of Pokemon game that features “red” hues either in its title, core color, or as parts of a Pokemon. For whatever color association-driven reason, the “red” version of any Pokemon game typically sells worse than its counterpart.
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Looking at the sales history within Japan, Pokemon Sapphire outsold Ruby, Pokemon Diamond outsold Pearl, Pokemon SoulSilver outsold Pokemon HeartGold, Pokemon Black 2 Outsold White 2, Pokemon X outsold Pokemon Y, Pokemon Alpha Sapphire outsold Omega Ruby (another point against the OG Ruby), and Pokemon Sword outsold Shield. With the general red color association trend, especially with Sapphire beating Ruby at every turn, there’s no reason to think that will not happen with these Pokemon re-releases on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 consoles.
It’ll be interesting to see how Pokemon Emerald shakes things up for these releases, as it seems safe to assume it would outsell both (but both will likely still do good numbers), as it simply has more content. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen on Switch sold at a respectable $20 each, and it’ll be interesting to see if Pokemon Emerald is priced just like Ruby and Sapphire or if it costs a little more. After all, it’s one of the best “Third Editions” in the franchise, complete with expanded features:
- Expanded Story with both Team Magma and Team Aqua
- Expanded Story with Rayquaza’s Intervention
- The Ability to Catch the Entire Weather Trio
- New Battle Sprites
- Wallace as the Champion
- The Battle Frontier
- And More!
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Overall, though, it’s a good time to be a Pokemon fan (not that there’s ever a bad time). Pokemon Pokopia has plenty of content on Switch 2, and of course, playing through Pokemon FireRed and/or LeafGreen on new hardware is so nice. What’s even more exciting about Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, however, is the upcoming release of Pokemon Wind and Waves (neither has red, presumably for a reason…). Pokemon Winds and Waves is introducing new gimmicks based on weather, which of course, was Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire‘s whole ordeal first.
- Released
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March 19, 2003
- ESRB
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e
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
- Engine
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Unreal Engine
- Multiplayer
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Local Multiplayer
