Animal Crossing outsells Breath of the Wild in mere months

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is undoubtedly the video game of the pandemic, at first selling millions in the first 11 days alone. But now that it’s been a few months, Nintendo has released its latest financial data, and Animal Crossing’s sales are staggering to consider in context, when compared to other flagship video games.

Since its release in late March, New Horizons has sold 22.4M copies, making it the second most popular Nintendo Switch game ever, right behind Mario Kart 8 (which as of this writing, sits at 26.7M units).

It hasn’t even been a full year, and Animal Crossing has outsold Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (19.9M copies), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (18.6M), Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield (18.2M) and Super Mario Odyssey (18.06M). Most of the aforementioned games are system sellers and have been out for at least a year or more. Prior to this year, any one of the Switch games on this list could be considered more mainstream than Animal Crossing, but a lot has changed in the last few months. Animal Crossing is a household name now, to the degree that it seems like only a matter of time before it becomes the Switch’s best-selling game ever. That is, if sales momentum for New Horizons continues.

New Horizons has also sold double what its predecessor did, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which clocks in at 12.55M lifetime sales. Really, it’s been a great year for Nintendo. While many industries are suffering in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, video games are doing pretty okay, and that’s reflected in the Japanese company’s newest financial earnings statement. Nintendo’s net profit is up by 541.3%, with hardware sales of the O.G. Switch up by 166.6%, as you can see in the graphics below. The numbers refer to sales occurring within April to June 2020.

Image: Nintendo.

Amid all this, Nintendo also commented on its Switch shortage situation, noting that the pandemic “created some difficulties in procuring the parts required for the manufacture of Nintendo Switch consoles, but the situation has almost recovered.” The Japanese company states that COVID-19 could still have an effect on manufacturing consoles in the future, however.

“Regarding Nintendo Switch consoles, because there is a time lag between production and the stocking of store shelves, and because demand remains strong, there are still shortages in some regions,” Nintendo writes in its financial earnings document. “We work hard to be able to deliver these products to consumers as quickly as possible.”

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