Pokemon Sun Moon Money
Rowlet can't get enough of all that green The Pokémon Company / iStock

When augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go gripped the world this past summer, many wondered what effect its enormous popularity would have on Nintendo 3DS titles Sun and Moon - which launched in late November.

The answer, as it turns out, is a substantial effect. In the two weeks since it launched, the game has sold over 7 million units worldwide, breaking Nintendo records in Europe and North America in the process.

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GamesIndustry.biz reports that the 1.5 million European sales and 2 million sales in Japan have been joined by an enormous 3.7 million in the Americas - meaning at least 7.2 million units have been sold to date.

As of 30 September, Nintendo had sold 61.57 million 3DS consoles – meaning 12% of the console's install base bought the colourful new adventure during its release window.

In Europe, the launch of Pokémon Sun and Moon was the biggest ever for any Nintendo game – not just Pokémon titles.

It is also the fastest selling Nintendo game to ever be released in North America, with sales that rose an incredible 85% over 2013's (also very successful) Pokémon X and Y.

Pokémania has gripped the world in a way it hasn't since its late 1990s heyday. It started earlier this year with the re-release of Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow on 3DS, to mark the franchise's 20th anniversary.

Free-to-play mobile game Pokémon Go was downloaded 100 million times in just its first month of release, generating enormous amounts for developer Niantic and The Pokémon Company through microtransactions. It was a worldwide phenomenon in a way few games have ever been.

Finally came the release of Sun and Moon, the latest mainline entries in the series. Set on the tropical, Hawaiian-themed islands of Alola, the game is vastly different to previous games in how it plays and looks, but retains what has made Pokémon so popular for two decades.

You can read our review of Pokémon Sun and Moon here.

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