It surprises me that some people are surprised Pokémon Pokopia is a wild success. The idea of combining elements from games like Animal Crossing and Pokémon is basically one of the easiest formulas to print money. After all, Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch has sold nearly 50 million units, and both recent mainline Pokémon games (Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet) have sold over 25 million. Hell, just look at the success of Palworld.
Pokémon Pokopia has crossed 2.2 million units sold worldwide in its first four days, including one million in Japan alone. The Pokémon Company and Nintendo shared the milestone today, and it’s not hard to see why the Switch 2 exclusive has been performing so well. I’ve been splitting my time between Pokémon Pokopia and Slay the Spire 2 since both launched on March 5, and Pokopia has been a dangerously effective time sink.
When the game was first announced, I compared it to Animal Crossing with a Pokémon skin. After spending a good amount of time with it, though, it plays a lot more like Dragon Quest Builders 2 without the combat. The core gameplay loop of creating habitats, discovering Pokémon, and giving them homes while increasing their comfort levels is incredibly addictive. There’s always something to work toward, whether it’s figuring out what a specific Pokémon needs to show up or optimizing your layouts to make everyone more comfortable. It’s the kind of game where you sit down to play for 30 minutes and suddenly five hours have passed.
The 2.2 million number in four days is a strong start, especially for a game that isn’t a mainline Pokémon title. It shows there’s a real appetite for Pokémon in genres outside of the traditional RPG formula, and Koei Tecmo’s involvement gives it a level of depth that a purely casual experience wouldn’t have. Look for a full review in the coming weeks once I’ve had more time with it.
