Nintendo has released its latest set of financial results, covering Q2 of this fiscal year (July through to the end of September) and unsurprisingly one game continues to lead the way in sales for the company, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Continuing to be popular throughout the year, it wasn't the only game which shone on the Switch, with 20 titles on the console shifting over one million units or more in the quarter.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons released just as the world was entering lockdown, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for many gamers (and non-gamers) around the world. Nintendo has continued to support the game, with regular updates including last month’s Halloween festivities , and why wouldn’t they, especially after these latest financial results.
Sitting just behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (28.99 million) on the list of all-time best-selling Switch games, Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold just short of 15 million copies in Q2 (14.27 million), pushing sales since release in March to 26.04 million copies. Elsewhere, the other big highlight of the report was Super Mario 3D All-Stars. The collection of classic Mario titles wasn’t perfect, but it still managed to shift 5.21 million units in Q2 despite only releasing on September 18, giving the game just under two weeks to reach that figure.
Three other first party titles - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey and Pokémon Sword/Shield – are all approaching 20 million units sold, with Breath of the Wild the closest at 19.7 million. While the upcoming prequel Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity won’t change one of the few negatives about the 2017 launch title, is likely to draw players back to Breath of the Wild and push that figure past 20 million.
Overall, the numbers are still looking very good for the Kyoto-based company, with Luigi’s Mansion 3 just short of 8 million units and Ring Fit Adventure more than doubling its lifetime sales with an impressive Q2 of 3.11 million units sold both adding to the impressive performance of the Switch. Hardware sales are up 80% on last year, with the Switch-Lite shifting 4.17 million units in the quarter (up 114% on last year), thanks in part to the popularity of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
At one point this year, it seemed everyone was playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, from everyday gamers to celebrities and politicians.. From Brie Larson to congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, even sJoe Biden even got in on the act recently, the series has gone from cult to mainstream with the latest title.
Source: Nintendo Japan