Pokemon Sword and Shield first week sales top six million [Update]

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield for Switch sold six million units worldwide during its first week of release, The Pokemon Company announced.

The six million unit figure is the highest ever first week sales for a Switch game, also making Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield the fastest selling Switch game. Two million units were sold in Japan.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are available now for Switch.

Update 8:30 a.m.: Here is the Nintendo of America press release:

Nintendo of America announced that after selling more than six million units worldwide during launch weekend*, the Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield games are among the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch games of all time. Additionally, the games sold just over two million copies in the first two days in the U.S., making it the highest-grossing launch of any Pokemon game.

“This past weekend, millions of people began their Pokemon journeys through the new Galar region,” said Nick Chavez, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “With such a momentous launch, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield have proven to be two of the must-have games this holiday season.”

Games in the core Pokemon RPG series have sold more than 240 million units** worldwide since launching with the Pokemon Red Version and Pokemon Blue Version games in 1996.

In Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, players embark on a journey through the Galar region, where they’ll catch, battle and trade a variety of Pokemon, meet a memorable cast of characters and unravel the mystery behind the Legendary Pokemon Zacian and Zamazenta. In the Wild Area, which stretches between the Galar region’s different towns and cities, players will explore a vast expanse of untamed wilderness that’s full of Pokemon to battle and catch. By teaming up with three other players locally or online*** in the new multiplayer co-op Max Raid Battles, players will face off against gigantic and super-strong Pokemon known as Dynamax Pokemon.

*Reported sell through according to internal Nintendo sales data; applies to both physical and digital sales.
**Total for titles in the core Pokemon RPG series as of September 2019, according to internal Nintendo sales data.