The Pokémon Company has announced that sales of core entries in the Pokémon franchise have topped 200 million in a Japanese language press release today.
The major milestone includes all games sold through February 29th, 2016 and factors in Virtual Console sales of Pokémon Blue, Red, and Yellow. In all, 201 million Pokémon games have sold to date and the number rises to 279 million when you include spin-off titles.
It’s a big year for the Pokémon franchise, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. A number of Pokémon are available through the in-game Mystery Gift feature and Pokémon Bank. Pokémon Blue, Red, and Yellow were released last month on the 3DS eShop to mark the anniversary and Nintendo took out a prominent Superbowl commercial for the first time in the series’ history.
Regirock, Regice, and Registeel are available to download via Pokémon Bank and are all level 50 with new hidden abilities. Celebi, meanwhile, is available through the Mystery Gift channel until March 21st. All four Pokémon are compatible with Pokémon X, Pokémon Y, Pokémon Omega Ruby, and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire versions.
Later this year, developer Game Freak, The Pokémon Company, and Nintendo will release Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Details are scarce about the games at this point.
The Tekken inspired Pokémon fighting game Pokkén Tournament was released last year in Japanese arcades and launches tomorrow for Wii U. Mobile Pokémon spin-off Pokémon Go is currently conducting field tests in Japan but these will spread to other regions ahead of the game’s launch. The game is coming to iOS and Android devices this year.
