Nintendo unveiled its tax report for the year 2021so from March 2021 to the end of March 2022. We learn many things about the economic health of the Japanese company, but above all, we notice that Pokémon Legends: Arceus has been a great success, despite the many criticisms that the game had received shortly before release.
Difficult beginnings
When the game is announced, during the Nintendo direct at the start of 2021, the Pokémon community was eager to play it. However, when the first images of the game were revealed, many were skeptical. In question, the graphics of the future production, which seemed empty and little worked. It was possible, at the time, to see a lot of remarks about the “ugly trees” from Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Even before its release, the game divided the community. Between those who were interested in the gameplay and looked forward to playing it and those who were like “blocked” by the graphics, it was hard to tell if Nintendo’s game was going to be a hit… or not.
A drastic change
Gameplay level, the game was more than innovative by really moving away from the Pokémon games that we knew before. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, it’s not about collecting arena badges to compete with the champion, but rather trying to complete a very first Pokédex in a world where Pokémon are still seen as wild creatures. and sometimes dangerous. The plot is also very different from previous games, this time introducing a time rift disrupting Hisui’s Pokémon.
Additionally, the fact that Pokémon can now pounce on players and attack them savagely was a huge change in the gameplay of licensed games. There is no doubt that Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a real turning point in the licensing of Pokémon games, and for a start, the result is impressive!
Bet won for Nintendo
In effect, Nintendo had bet big on this game, by innovating and totally thinking outside the box. And the recipe worked! In Nintendo’s 2021-2022 tax report, we learn that the game sold more than 12.64 million copies in the whole world. The balance sheet stopping at March 31, 2022 and the game being released on January 28 of the same year, these are remarkable figures achieved in just two months! However, Pokémon Legends: Arceus does not exceed the sales of Pokémon Sparkling Diamond and Sparkling Pearl, sold at 14.65 million copies over the same period.
The last game of the license even exceeded the mythical Mario Kart 8 this fiscal year, the latter having sold almost 10 millions of copies. Like what, this nugget of innovation that is Pokémon Legends: Arceus has managed to find a place among the classics, or even above.
From VGCChartzrepresentative of the popularity of certain games, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the 16th Nintendo’s most popular licensed game. The first being Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow, Pokémon Sword/Shield and Pokémon Silver/Gold.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is one of the first games in the license to deviate so much from the original gameplay of the other games. Nintendo’s tax record only proves to us that, in just two months, Nintendo’s production has established itself in the international charts and has been a great success. Who tries nothing has nothing, and that, Nintendo understood it well!
It is well known that each species of Pokémon has its own type (water, grass, fire, ghost, etc…). But have you ever wondered: What if the Pokémon change type, the time of an illustration? Let’s discover it all together!