Nintendo 3DS and Pokemon Sales Jump By Over 100% In UK On The Back Of Pokemon GO's Success

Sales of 3DS games and hardware have jumped by over 100 per cent as the Pokémon Go mobile phenomenon takes over the world.

GfK figures reveal that the combined sales of previous Pokémon 3DS games increased by 145 per cent last week.

Licensing sources have also told MCV that Nintendo has now raised projections for the upcoming 3DS games Pokémon Sun and Moon, which arrive on November 23rd.

Pre-orders have already increased over the weekend - Sun and Moon are currently amongst the Top Ten most pre-ordered games on Amazon. Nintendo has also tried to capitalise on the sudden popularity, by making Sun and Moon Steelbooks available to order.

Elsewhere, apparel licensee BioWorld Europe says it is developing new lines as its current range has been ‘flying out the door’.

“Many retailers are requesting special Pokémon products and we’re developing a wider collection to meet that demand,” said product manager Leon van der Made.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game has also enjoyed a sales spike – although this has been happening all year. Card sales are up by 100 per cent, primarily due to the Pokémon 20th anniversary celebrations.

“We’ve not seen the same excitement around the brand since the original UK launch in the 1990s,” said Ben Hogg, marketing manager at Pokémon Trading Card supplier Esdevium. “TCG sales are up around eight times the level we saw back in 2012 and over 100 per cent year-on-year from 2015.”

“We are excited about Pokémon Go and the effect it could have on the TCG. The high profile launch has certainly generated plenty of additional interest in Pokémon from our retailers. It is hard to say if it will lead to some good extra sales or if it will be a catalyst for further huge growth. But we are confident the effect will be positive, just how positive we do not yet know.”

UK stores say they are braced for ‘another Pokémon Christmas’. The last time the franchise dominated the toy, TV and game charts in the UK was Christmas 1999.

“Although Pokémon Go will probably tail-off a bit, we do expect the franchise to be one of the most talked about this Christmas,” said the senior buyer of one of the UK’s biggest games outlets.

“It will have a positive impact on the 3DS, toys and cards, too.”

Pokémon Go launched last Thursday from Niantic and The Pokémon Company. At one point, the game boasted more active users than Twitter.

TOP SELLING POKÉMON GAMES FOR WEEK ENDING JULY 16TH (Sales Increase %)

1. Pokémon Alpha Sapphire – 148%

2. Pokémon Omega Ruby – 148%

3. Pokémon X – 238%

4. Pokémon Y – 188%

5. Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon – 65%

These five games in total –148%

Pokémon Total – 145%

SOURCE

Nintendo's plan had always been to use its mobile games to gently graduate mass gamers into its core hardware and software products- maybe this is proof that that kind of strategy can work in the long run?

OK. Now give us the amount of units sold instead of percentages, so that we can determine how relevant it is.

What? But it aint even Christmas. How the heck did Nintendo get software/hardware increase in the Summer. This has never been done before, the gods must be on our side.

Awful tragedy to hit such a great nation. This is worse than Brexit :(

Looks like Iwata's plan is working. Even preorders are up. So much for Nintendoom.

It worked with me, not bought any Pokemon games for years but since Pokemon go I have bought the latest Pokemon for the 3ds

As posted in another thread: Pokemon. It prints money.

@charizard1605: Do you think this is a fad that will die out soon? I'm curious. I believe it will be over by Xmas or at least the hype will die down by then when the numerous clones enter the market.

It's an extremely friendly casual-appealing game, and will most definitely die out in 2017. That being said, Nintendo seemingly jumped on the mobile bandwagon after being exclusive to their consoles for so long and have pulled off one of their greatest marketing campaigns in doing so. It's a Pokeplague at it's finest, and people who've been turned off from the game for such a long time might be realizing how much they miss it's simple gameplay.

For me, Pokemon GO is quite boring and deserves it's place amongst the other 99.99% of mobile games that are pieces of crap. Cool concept, just not a concept I personally desire within my game library. I feel like die-hard fans are in the same boat... I'd just much rather pick up a DS (hell, even my old GameBoy) and play through the cartridge titles for the full Pokemon experience.

good for them!!! It def made me go back and play them again

That's great for Pokemon franchise. I am preordering Pokemon sun and moon. However the mobile game is an insult and garbage. Just like Metroid federations.

Pokemon Sun & Moon will sell well too. Want a Gamexplain video?

yes. I'd like that very much thanks!

I agree with you. I tried it and its really not deep. People are only playing it because its all over the news and is popular for now. Its a cool concept yeah but gamers who play PC/PS4/X1 games won't have their attention held for that long.

@Netret0120: It kinda has to be a fad. The numbers of playing should drop a lot soon after they catch almost everything. I think people will still play the game and it should get spikes when updates come, but dont expect 100's to gather at the park for long.

10-20 is more realistic.

Here you go.

Nice goalpost moving. Regardless of the numbers, it's evidence that improving brand awareness helps Nintendo as a whole and shows why restructuring into a mobile-only company after one successful game is a stupid idea. Percentages are what investors tend to care more about as well.

You know as well as I do that 238% of 1 sale is 2.38 sales, I'm sure. So until we've seen the numbers it is interesting but ultimately incomplete information and doesn't say anything about the sales prospects of any console - might've been all 3DS owners who discovered Pokemon for the first time when they saw the app being announced.

Wow. Guess their strategy was right. Kudos.