10 More Video Games That Sold Millions (Despite Being Terrible)
1. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
It's easy to pretend that the above screenshot acts as an artistic representation of Nintendo's eye-popping reaction to Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's sales numbers. "Really? That many people bought a blatantly unfinished game? Why the hell did we spend so long tweaking Tears of the Kingdom?!"
Make no mistake, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet may be the least objectively terrible games on this list (now there's a box quote for you), but Nintendo should never have released them in the condition they were at launch. And 22 million gamers (and counting) certainly shouldn't have awarded such a slapdash effort by spending their hard-earned cash on a product that felt like a bug-filled beta test.
Fans forgave Pokémon Legends: Arceus for its shakey performance because it tried something new with the Pokémon formula, but Scarlet & Violet - both mainline entries in the Pokémon franchise - should never have been allowed to tarnish the brand to the extent they did upon their release.
Sadly, such is the power of Pokémon that tens of millions of gamers have willingly parted with their cash to spend more time in its one-of-a-kind world. Even when said world has a habit of popping in and out of existence, or slowing down to a crawl at a moment's notice...