The Pokemon Franchise is already 27 years in the making, but is it time to call a time of death on the beloved series?
Since the beginning of Pokémon, there has always been Junichi Masuda. As a co-founder of Pokémon developer Game Freak, Masuda worked on the very first titles. Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green were released in 1996. By 2002, he began serving as series director, starting with Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire.
But Masuda’s close involvement in the series has come to an end. On June 1, 2022, he stepped away from his managing editor position and into a new role. He moved on from the developer Game Freak to the Pokémon Company. The Pokemon Company serves the top-line role of managing the entire brand, from animation and trading cards to video games.
While Masuda’s transfer is an end of an era for Pokemon games, it certainly will not be the cause of Pokemon’s death. Masuda is not, and certainly has not been, the only decision-maker when it comes to Pokémon games.
Pokemon Games Sales
According to vgchartz.com, the sales statistics of mainline Pokemon games are as follows:
- Pokemon Red & Green (Japan-only) & Blue – 31.38 million
- Pokemon Yellow – 14.64 million
- Pokemon Gold & Silver – 23.10 million
- Pokemon Crystal – 6.39 million
- Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire – 16.22 million
- Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen – 12.00 million
- Pokemon Emerald – 7.06 million
- Pokemon Diamond & Pearl – 17.67 million
- Pokemon Platinum – 7.6 million
- Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver – 12.72 million
- Pokemon Black & White – 15.64 million
- Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 – 8.52 million
- Pokemon X & Y – 16.65 million
- Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire – 14.53 million
- Pokemon Sun & Moon – 16.29 million
- Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon – 9.12 million
- Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu! & Let’s Go Eevee! – 15.07 million
- Pokemon Sword & Shield – 25.68 million
- Pokemon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl – 14.92 million
- Pokemon Legends: Arceus – 14.63 million
- Pokemon Scarlet / Violet – 20.61 million
As you can see from the statistics, the Pokemon Franchise is still alive and well even after 27 years of existence. The numbers are still excellent and respectable, and it is hard to perceive that these numbers will dwindle any time soon.
While the recent releases are riddled with bugs and errors, these can be easily resolved if the developers are up to it. Additionally, the fans seem to not mind the bugs too much as Scarlet and Violet still received glowing reviews.
The new open-world adventure formula of Scarlet and Violet revitalized the Pokemon fans’ optimism as the future of Pokemon seems bright. As long as Game Freak does not make a catastrophic mistake with the game, it is hard to see the franchise dying any time soon.
If you got to this part of the article, then you surely love Pokemon. Love it or hate it, I think that you will like this other article about the Top 5 Best Legendary Pokemon.
