Former Nintendo Employees Claim Pokemon Legends: Z-A Only Needs to Sell 200,000 Units to Break Even

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Former Nintendo employees suggest that *Pokemon Legends: Z-A* could become profitable after selling just 200,000 copies. This is because the game is rumored to have a very small development budget.

The newest Pokémon game, *Pokémon Legends: Z-A*, came out on October 16th. It continues the style of gameplay introduced in 2022 with *Pokémon Legends: Arceus*. Initial reviews have been good, with an average score of 81 out of 100 on OpenCritic.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Only Needs 200,000 Sales to Break Even Due to Incredibly Low Budget

Former Nintendo employees Krysta Yang and Kit Ellis talked about the recent Pokémon leak on their channel, revealing that the budget for *Pokémon Legends: Z-A* was reportedly around 2 billion yen, or $13 million. While these figures might not be completely current, Ellis pointed out that the game only needs to sell around 200,000 copies to become profitable – a surprisingly low number. He then expressed some criticism towards Nintendo, suggesting they should invest more in the Pokémon series, considering its guaranteed success, and noting that the graphics could be improved. It’s important to remember that this budget doesn’t include marketing costs, which are typically quite high for Pokémon games and likely exceed $13 million.

It’s still uncertain how well *Pokemon Legends: Z-A* will sell on its first day. However, *Pokemon Scarlet and Violet* were incredibly popular, selling approximately 27 million copies, so we can expect the new game to easily surpass 200,000 units sold. While *Scarlet and Violet* received criticism for their graphics and performance at launch, this suggests that *Pokemon* fans would appreciate Nintendo and Game Freak prioritizing improvements and polish in future games.

It’s still unclear how Nintendo will handle the budgets for future *Pokémon* games. Recent leaks have revealed details about the next generation, reportedly titled *Pokémon Wind and Wave*. These games are said to take place in a region inspired by Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and will feature a unique system of “infinite islands” that are created automatically. However, details about how these islands will work are still scarce, and the game’s overall budget remains unknown.

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2025-10-16 18:03