This Week In Sales: Ultra Sales For Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon

Period: The week of November 13 – November 19 (2017)

Top-seller: Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon – 915,221 (3DS)

Nintendo Switch sales: 86,999 (Last week – 79,958)

Nintendo 2DS sales: 3,113 (1,484)

New Nintendo 2DS LL sales: 29,013 (10,323)

New Nintendo 3DS sales: 289 (266)

New Nintendo 3DS LL sales: 11,074 (7,296)

Wii U sales: 43 (36)

PlayStation 4 sales: 18,126 (20,021)

PlayStation 4 Pro sales: 8,176 (6,037)

PlayStation 3 sales: 46 (41)

PlayStation Vita sales: 3,090 (3,210)

Xbox One sales: 104 (121)

Xbox One X sales: 143 (1,344)

<< Last week’s software sales chart

<< How to read and understand sales

Last week, Japan had a big week in sales, particularly for the Nintendo 3DS family, with the release of Pokémon Ultra Sun & Pokémon Ultra Moon. Dragon Quest X’s latest expansion, Star Wars Battlefront II, and The Sims 4 on PS4 also released.

#1 of the week goes to Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon with 667,439 units sold on the Nintendo 3DS. #2 of the week also goes to Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon for the “Double Pack” version that contains both versions in one pack, and it sold 247,782 units on 3DS. Since a lot of people tend to buy the Double Packs to collect both versions, we’ll just take it as an additional SKU rather than “double the sales,” since the Double Pack isn’t necessarily reaching twice the people.

Now, let’s look at some further juicy numbers and charts to get a better idea on how Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon performed as an entry in the Pokémon series as well as a “third version” title:

First, here’s an updated look at the opening sales of Pokémon titles going back to Ruby & Sapphire back in 2002:

• (2002) Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire – 1,093,299 [GBA]
• (2004) Pokémon Fire Red & Leaf Green – 1,013,119 [GBA]
• (2004) Pokémon Emerald – 790,527 [GBA]
• (2006) Pokémon Diamond & Pearl – 1,588,734 [DS]
• (2008) Pokémon Platinum – 963,273 [DS]
• (2009) Pokémon Heart Gold & Soul Silver – 1,442,990 [DS]
• (2010) Pokémon Black & White – 2,557,779 [DS]
• (2012) Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 – 1,561,738 [DS]
• (2013) Pokémon X & Y – 1,866,570 [3DS]
• (2014) Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire – 1,327,671 [3DS]
• (2016) Pokémon Sun & Moon – 1,742,008 [3DS]
• (2017) Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon – 915,221 [3DS]

The 915,221 units sold is in its debut is about 53% of the opening of Pokémon Sun & Moon. The above chart gives us a look at the opening week performances of previous “third version” games from the series.

Next, here’s a look at how previous third version titles’ lifetime sales in comparison to their original pairs:

• Emerald (1,916,505) vs. Ruby & Sapphire (5,160,765) – 37%
• Platinum (2,626,618) vs. Diamond & Pearl (5,814,251) – 45%
• Black 2 & White 2 (3,076,701) vs. Black & White (5,516,542) – 56%
• Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon (915,221*) vs. Sun & Moon (3,317,852) – ??

It will be a while until we get the lifetime sales figure for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, but you can get an idea on the sales performances from the third versions we’ve seen thus far.

Lastly, here’s a look at how the third versions have sold on a global level:

• Emerald (6,320,000) vs. Ruby & Sapphire (16,220,000) – 39%
• Platinum (7,060,000) vs. Diamond & Pearl (17,670,000) – 40%
• Black 2 & White 2 (8,520,000) vs. Black & White (15,640,000) – 54%
• Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon (???) vs. Sun & Moon (15,910,000) – ??

It should be interesting to see how Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon continues to sell in Japan and around the world. We can expect to see sales continue stretching through the holiday seasons and the new year.

[Credit for the wonderful charts and sales numbers goes to our good friend Ishaan. Hit him up on Twitter @ishaansahdev to talk about all-things video game sales, comics, Monster Hunter, and more.]

Moving on to other new titles of the week, we have Star Wars Battle Front II at 38,769 units sold on PS4. This is a major drop from the previous 2015 entry, Star Wars Battlefront, which sold 123,908 units in Japan for its debut, but it was enough for the sequel to chart at #4 in Japan.

At #7, #8, and #10 we have Dragon Quest X’s latest expansion, The 5,000 Year Journey to the Distant Homeland Online. The biggest take from here is that the Wii U version was the top of the three at #7 with 24,836 units sold [Didn’t see that coming, eh?]. Following at #8 is the Switch version with 18,444 units and the PS4 version at #10 with 13,657 units. Combined, the three versions sold 56,937 units total in its debut. That said, this is most likely the last Wii U title we’ll ever see make it in the top-20.

Lastly, The Sims 4 released its PS4 version in Japan and it barely made it into the chart at #20 with 3,428 units sold.

Hardware sales were pretty big last week with a boost in sales across the Nintendo 3DS family thanks to the release of Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, with the most coming from the 2DS LL going from 10,323 units sold the week prior to 29,013. The Nintendo Switch sold a whopping 86,999 units, which now puts the total at 2,251,327 units sold in Japan since its March launch, going by Media Create’s numbers.

The top-20 chart of the week is as follows:

Sales data acquired from 4Gamer and Media Create.