Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been surpassing sales milestones since its release. The milestones may be due to the timing of its release around the beginning of many “Stay at Home Orders” across the globe due to COVID-19 or because its the first title in the series to launch on the Nintendo Switch. Thanks to a digital and physical release, there’s no shortage of fans obtaining the game for the Switch.
Nintendo posted its earnings earlier this week. The company revealed Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold 11.77 million digital and physical units in 12 days after it launched. After six weeks, the game sold over 13 million copies.
By the end of April, the game sold 3.9 million copies in Japan total with 1.29 million sales in that month alone. The game outsold other highly anticipated games, such as Final Fantasy 7 Remake for the PlayStation 4.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now officially the fastest-selling title for the Nintendo Switch in Japan. It’s possible the title may race ahead The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey which have separately surpassed over 16 million sales.
According to the NPD Group, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the best selling game of March 2020 and the second best-selling game of the year. The title was the third-highest launch of any Nintendo game that was tracked in the company’s history. The only two games that surpassed this were Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has now officially outsold Animal Crossing: New Leaf (including the Welcome amiibo version), which sold over 12 million units. The previous game, Animal Crossing: Wild World sold over 11 million worldwide.
While Animal Crossing: New Horizons has surpassed records, Nintendo experienced other issues to COVID-19. Nintendo Switch consoles have been in short supply due to mandatory shutdowns caused by the outbreak. Games that require physical releases, such as Ring Fit Adventure, were sold out across the globe and resold on third-party websites for high prices. If a player could obtain both, repairs for consoles and other accessories are taking longer than usual.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has continued to provide many gamers hours of fun while staying indoors. Even as lockdowns are being lifted across the globe, Nintendo is slowly rolling out new events throughout the year.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a Nintendo Switch exclusive and is available now.
