Developer Nintendo Publisher Nintendo Release Date March 20, 2020 Series Animal Crossing Genre Simulation Multiplayer modes Local, Online Platforms Nintendo Switch Monetization One Time Purchase Purchase (Some links may be affiliated) Amazon Nintendo eShop
Switch Production Nearly Back To Normal
Nintendo’s fortunes are looking pretty rosy. The company’s financial report for the three months ending on June 30th 2020 has shown strong performance for both the Switch console and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. All in all, the latter is now the Nintendo Switch’s second best-selling game ever.
How well has Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold?
The latest in Nintendo’s cuddly life sim franchise has been a remarkable success for the company. All told, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold 22.40 million units across its lifetime. That’s not bad considering it only launched in late March. In that three-month period between March and June, New Horizons sold significantly better than the entire lifetime performance of the 3DS’ Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which sold 12 million units in total. Nintendo says a large influx of players who’ve never played an Animal Crossing game started with New Horizons.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now the second best-selling Switch game of all time, lagging behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. However, given the game’s stellar sales performance, we’re expecting to see it skyrocket to the top of that list at the end of the next quarterly review. Nintendo says that the number of players who bought a Switch for Animal Crossing “continued to increase” between April and June, and that of all Switch systems played for the first time in this period, over half were used to play New Horizons on its release day.
How about the Switch in general?
It won’t shock you to learn that Nintendo’s console is doing pretty well. After a delay in production caused by COVID-19, Nintendo says the production situation has “almost recovered”. Strong sales for games like Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition and Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics also drove solid Switch numbers. The Switch has now sold more software than was ever sold on the 3DS and has almost sold as many hardware units as the NES/Famicom.
When examining the upcoming Nintendo release schedule within the latest financial report, there’s some reassuring news. Although they’re all listed as “TBA”, Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4, and the unnamed Breath of the Wild sequel are all still on the list. New Pokemon Snap also makes an appearance, as does Bravely Default II. All in all, it’s looking like an extremely strong year for the Switch, even if the release schedule for the rest of the year is looking somewhat barren.
