J. Clement
Research lead covering internet and gaming
In its 28-year history, the Pokémon Company has sold over 448 million units of the game’s series, with every new addition taking the video game industry by storm. After numerous video games and various spin-offs, Pokémon’s debut series Red/Green/Blue remains the franchise’s best-selling console game to date, with over 31 million units shipped worldwide.
The latest animated film, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, was originally set for release in Japanese theaters on July 10, 2020, but delayed to December 25, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pokémon Detective Pikachu, the first official live-action Pokémon film, was released in May 2019 and was met with commercial success, placing as the second highest-grossing video game film adaption off all time.
The Pokémon animated series is currently in its 26th season, which is called Pokémon Horizons. The series includes the new Paldea region from the 2022 Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games. Since April 2023, the iconic duo Ash and Pikachu have been retired as main characters and this season is the first to feature new protagonists Liko and Roy.
Current Pokémon titles
In November 2022, the first games of the ninth Pokémon generation were released for Nintendo Switch. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were instant best-sellers, selling over ten million worldwide copies in the first three days after release and reaching over 20 million lifetime sales at the end of the year. Earlier in 2022, the franchise successfully published Pokémon Legends: Arceus for the Nintendo Switch. The Switch-exclusive title outsold other recent Pokémon game launches in Japan (until it was eclipsed by Scarlet/Violet) and moved more than 6.5 million units in its first week of global sales. The core games are released in generations, each with different Pokémon, characters, and sometimes new regions.A media empire
Apart from being a global gaming giant, Pokémon has also become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. Today, the brand’s empire encompasses a popular anime series with over 1,232 episodes, a trading card game, merchandise, and several movies that continuously draw fans to the theater.The latest animated film, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, was originally set for release in Japanese theaters on July 10, 2020, but delayed to December 25, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pokémon Detective Pikachu, the first official live-action Pokémon film, was released in May 2019 and was met with commercial success, placing as the second highest-grossing video game film adaption off all time.
The Pokémon animated series is currently in its 26th season, which is called Pokémon Horizons. The series includes the new Paldea region from the 2022 Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games. Since April 2023, the iconic duo Ash and Pikachu have been retired as main characters and this season is the first to feature new protagonists Liko and Roy.
Mobile gaming success story
In July 2016, the franchise expanded its global reach by venturing into the world of mobile gaming for the first time. With the launch of Pokémon GO, a location-based augmented reality (AR) mobile game, the franchise managed to create a global sensation and re-ignite the initial Pokémania of the 1990s. Players around the world were fascinated by the idea of catching virtual Pokémon in real-world environments, fueling download numbers and revenue at an unprecedented pace. Years after its initial launch, Pokémon GO still enjoys great popularity across the globe, placing among the leading free-to-play (FTP) game titles worldwide and generating over 566 million U.S. dollars in IAP revenues in 2023. With these revenue figures, Pokémon GO still ranked as one of the highest grossing mobile games worldwide.
