Pokémon Scarlet and Violet might be buggy, but they’re top sellers in the UK

we all know that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet it does have some performance issues, but that hasn’t stopped the pair of games from being the UK’s biggest physical release this year.

Yeah, okay, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are… less than perfect. The frame rate issues a lot of limited clothing options, this guy. However, none of that matters in a capitalist world, because as reports GamesIndustry.bizthe ninth generation games are the biggest sellers in terms of physical copies sold at launch in the UK.

Prior to the release of Scarlet and Violet, FIFA 23 was the biggest boxed game launch, but the two Pokémon games were up 4% in comparison. They are also the second biggest release in the entire series, behind only Pokémon Sun and Moon on 3DS. As GamesIndustry.biz noted, Sun and Moon are doing so well in part because they were released the same year as Pokémon Go, marking a lot of interest in the series overall.

It should be noted that it’s unclear if the games are the biggest release overall, as Nintendo doesn’t share figures for its digital sales, although this puts the games in a fairly favorable spot. Interestingly, Violet is the more popular of the two, accounting for 52% of sales, while Scarlet accounts for 42% and the twin pack containing both accounts for the bottom 6%.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Scarlet and Violet also helped boost Switch console sales, particularly for the OLED model, making it the biggest week of the year for hardware parts.

While it’s true that the games have their problems, they’re clearly proving popular, and honestly, if they’re fun, does it matter that much?

This latest release also marks the first time the games have gone completely open-ended, allowing you to tackle the three main stories in any order you like. However, if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, luckily we’ve got a handy little guide to walk you through the best way forward.