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Pokémon Legends: Arceus sells an enormous 6.5m copies in seven days

Beating Sword and Shield's combined first week total.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus has shifted an enormous 6.5m copies in just one week, Nintendo has announced.

The Monster Hunter meets Pokémon Go-style adventure arrived for Nintendo Switch last Friday. Today, Nintendo of America announced global sales figures.

Cover image for YouTube videoPokémon Legends: Arceus Review - NEW POKÉMON LEGENDS: ARCEUS GAMEPLAY NINTENDO SWITCH

We already knew Arceus was doing the numbers - yesterday, we got word it had sold 1.43m copies in Japan in the game's opening three days, making it the second fastest selling Switch game ever in the country (behind Animal Crossing: New Horizons).

Here in the UK, Arceus topped this week's boxed game chart and became the fourth-biggest UK Pokémon launch ever.

But it's worth comparing this to other Pokémon launches to see just how well Arceus is doing. Pokémon Sword and Shield, for example, sold 6m in its first week. Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee sold 3m.

Of course, there are more Switch consoles out in the wild now, compared to when those games launched. But Arceus is just a solo release (yes, some people do buy both versions), and it has arrived outside the normally lucrative holiday sales window.

So, another Pokémon Legends game then?