‘Stealth’ Pokemon hit boosts Nintendo Switch 2 momentum sentiment

TOKYO: Nintendo said on Thursday it has sold more than 2.2 million copies of “Pokemon Pokopia” in the four days since launch as the game’s popularity helps offset fear about Switch 2 sales momentum.

Industry observers have fretted that the Switch 2 lacks high-profile games to drive sales, with spiking prices for memory chips also driving market concern about impact on profit margins.

The new life simulation game, a spin-off from the mainline Pokemon series, has been widely praised and has a metascore of 89 on review aggregator Metacritic.

The game, in which players control a Pokemon who transforms a wasteland by tilling fields and building houses, is a “stealth hit”, Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a client note.

“Pokopia serves as a critical software catalyst, accelerating adoption for the … (Switch 2) hardware install base by capturing the lucrative non-gamer demographic,” he wrote.

Nintendo previously attracted a wide range of consumers with island life simulator “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”, which become an escapist hit during the COVID-19 pandemic and helped drive sales of the original Switch console.

“Fans of that franchise have been waiting for a new entry for seven years now, so ‘Pokopia’ is scratching that itch for them in the meantime,” said Serkan Toto, founder of Kantan Games consultancy. Nintendo extended the lifecycle of the original Switch by releasing a series of high-profile games including two major entries in “The Legend of Zelda” series.

“To really ignite sales, Nintendo still needs a release on the levels of a new 3D Mario,” Toto said.