Back in 2013, when pre-orders for Pokémon X and Pokémon Y first opened in Japan, the two games pre-sold 260,000 copies within two days of pre-orders being made available.
Skipping ahead by about a year, pre-orders for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire opened last week. You probably saw the pre-order lines at various Pokémon Centers throughout Japan. Those crowds weren’t just for show—Japanese sales tracker Media Create says Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire saw 239,000 pre-orders within two days.
Under the same conditions (9 weeks prior to release), Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire saw more or less the same amount of pre-orders as X and Y. Despite being remakes, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are seeing an initial response similar to that of a brand new game—at least from dedicated fans.
Of course, pre-orders only tell a small part of the story. Actual sales over an extended period of time are more important, and Pokémon X and Y have sold over 4.1 million copies in Japan to date. It should be interesting to see how Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire do in comparison.
Note: Pre-order figures include Double Packs, counted as two separate games.
