Pokemon Sword and Shield are the best-selling Pokemon games since Gold and Silver

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Nintendo Switch outsells the 3DS at 80 million units sold

Pokemon Sword and Shield
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon Sword and Shield is officially the best selling game in the franchise for over 20 years. 

Lifetimes sales of Nintendo's latest Poke adventure have crossed 20 million, making it the first duo of Pokemon games to have crossed the milestone since Pokemon Gold and Silver. 

This news comes as Nintendo published an updated financial report earlier today, with Pokemon Sword and Shield one of many success stories highlighted by the Japanese publisher. 

In comparison to the rest of the series, Pokemon Gold and Silver had surpassed 23 million lifetime sales on the GameBoy by 2010, but still trailed the staggering 31 million units sold by Pokemon Red and Blue, the very first Pokemon games released all the way back in 1996.

This is far from the only information to come out of Nintendo's recent financial report, however. As you can see below, the Nintendo Switch has comfortably passed the Nintendo 3DS in lifetime sales, racking up nearly 80 million units sold.

The Switch has had quite the astounding 12 months, especially since Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched in March 2020. In fact, New Horizons is now the second best-selling game on the Switch to date, coming in at 31 million copies sold, a short way off Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in pole position.

Nintendo has had a brilliant 2020, and it could be primed to have an even better 2021. Rumors of a Nintendo Switch Pro model continue to circulate and there's still plenty of heavy-hitting games to look forward to at some point in the near future, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and Bayonetta 3.

For a full look at every game coming to Nintendo's console at some point in the future, head over to our upcoming Switch games article for more.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

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