Bandai Namcohas announced thatDigimon World: Next Orderhas reached the milestone of one million copies sold. The huge mark comes eight years after the game’s original Japanese release on the PlayStation Vita, seven years after its PlayStation 4 worldwide release, and over a year since the Switch and PC ports back in 2023.
Digital Monster Frenzy
Digimonis a multimedia franchise that was created as a virtual pet similar to the Tamagotchi, but with a target audience of young boys. It grew to have multiple anime, games and other complimentary media fleshing out its digital universe and the monsters that live in various virtual spaces.
Review: Digimon Survive
Digimon Survive is a worthwhile adventure for those looking for a strong story, but expect things to move slowly and not much actual gameplay.
One of the first outings of the series in the video game realm was Digimon World on the original PlayStation. The game was a raising simulator that made use of some of the virtual pet systems while offering a more involved storyline and world exploration.
In more recent years, the series tried to work out two main production lines for the video games: World and Story. While the Story games focus on a more traditional monster-collecting RPG experience, the World games dig into the monster-raising simulation aspects.
The latest release for the Story branch was Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition back in 2019. Meanwhile, Digimon World: Next Order was the latest entry into the World branch. The latest brand-new video game for the franchise, however, wasDigimon Survive, which didn’t follow either of the branches.
A Million Figures for Twice the Fun
Through the official Digimon Games social media, Bandai Namco revealed that Digimon World: Next Order managed to sell 1 million copies worldwide. The game’s Switch and PC port was the latest release in the franchise, coming after the visual novel and strategy RPG hybrid Digimon Survive.
Digimon World: Next Order offers the easiest entry point in the simulation side of the franchise for being available on current systems. The developers also made an effort to make it a more intuitive experience than previous titles with quality-of-life features.
The biggest feature of the game is the fact that players have to take care of two Digimon at once. This fact means having to manage different routines and tastes for them while also having the chance to use them for special fusion mechanics, like the traditional Jogress (DNA Digivolution).
There are over 230 creatures that players can obtain through nurturing their partners, training them for specific attribute checks. By doing various tasks during the in-game days, players can unlock info that helps them figure out how to reach each creature during their partners' limited lifespan.
Digimon World: Next Order offers the easiest entry point in the simulation side of the franchise for being available on current systems.
While Bandai Namco celebrated the news, the company currently hasn’t announced any upcoming titles for the franchise. During previous interviews, former series producer Kazumasa Habu had revealed a new Digimon Story to be in the works, with a story that covers the Olympos XII and the Homeros host computer.
Habu stepped down from his position earlier in the year and the game’s status is unclear, however, as it hasn’t been officially unveiled yet. The next Digimon Con event is planned for March 2025 and will be used to showcase some of the future developments of the brand, but going by previous years, there has been little presence of the video game branch during the presentations.
Digimon Con 2025 Planning to be Held in Late March
For the past few years Digimon fans around the world have collectively gotten to experience Digimon Con, and 2025’s is right around the corner.
