Pokemon Pokopia is selling extremely well, as the first official figures from Nintendo show it moving millions of copies of the game within just a few days of its launch. Pokemon fans who have been trying to hunt down a physical copy of Pokemon Pokopia, the first life simulation in the franchise’s 30-year history, probably won’t be surprised by the news, as it confirms the success that many have already anticipated.
Released worldwide on March 5, Pokemon Pokopia instantly resonated with Switch 2 owners, giving them an active role in transforming a deserted island into a suitable habitat that hundreds of different Pokemon can call their home. Comparisons to Nintendo’s popular Animal Crossing life sim franchise, combined with the recognizable Pokemon name, have helped to spur sales so much that Amazon increased the price of Pokemon Pokopia physical copies by $10 due to high demand.
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Pokemon Pokopia’s Sales Numbers Are Huge
With demand for Pokemon Pokopia evident, it’s little surprise that it has been selling well, and Nintendo has now released the official figures to prove it. According to the company’s official website, global sales of Pokemon Pokopia exceeded 2.2 million copies during its first four full days on the market. A little over 45 percent of those sales came from Japan, which reports more than a million units being sold in that timeframe, but the effect of the game’s popularity can be felt around the world. Numerous brick-and-mortar retailers in the United States, Canada, and Europe had been warning customers that they had sold out of Pokemon Pokopia copies within 24 hours of the game’s release, but the availability of digital download has hopefully satisfied most of those fans.
The sales figures are even less surprising considering a recent report that shows a big boost to its worldwide publisher’s stock prices. Figures show that Nintendo’s stock jumped 15 percent between March 9 and March 11. While Nintendo is one of the biggest publishers and developers on the market, as well as the producer of the top-selling console of 2025, the rising cost of hardware components has caused its stock to plummet by 40 percent over a six-month period ending in February. Pokemon Pokopia‘s sales, which are likely the main factor behind the recent jump, have helped Nintendo to rebound somewhat from that fall, though the company’s stock is still down a cumulative 30 percent since November 2025.
The success hasn’t just been a commercial one, as the Pokemon life sim has earned high acclaim from professionals and players alike. A few days before its release, Pokemon Pokopia became the highest-rated Pokemon game of all time, with a score of 89 on Metacritic. It later fell to a score of 88, tying it with Pokemon Y for the best cumulative rating a Pokemon game has ever received from professional critics, and it’s since risen up again to lay sole claim to the top spot. Meanwhile, it holds a 96 percent Critics Recommend rating and a perfect 100 player rating on OpenCritic.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
There’s no mention in Nintendo’s new report of how well the game has sold since March 9, nor does it mention how the distribution has been split between physical and digital sales of the game, but given the scarcity of physical copies, it’s likely that the vast majority of its sales have been digital. The high demand for physical copies is a particularly impressive feat when considering that Pokemon Pokopia was released on one of Nintendo’s controversial Game Key-Cards, cartridge-shaped digital keys that allow for download of the game while also giving players a physical case to show off. Many Nintendo fans have rejected the concept of Game Key-Cards in past releases, and while Nintendo has vowed not to use them in games that it develops, it only serves as global publisher of Pokemon Pokopia, with Game Freak and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force studio as the developers.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone / Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
