Animal Crossing: New Horizons breaks sales record

After almost exactly one year on the market, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold 7 million copies across Europe. This is the largest total sales for a Nintendo game ever achieved in the region.

Nintendo has explained that this 7 million unit sales figure represents one-third of the total Switch owners in Europe. This figure includes both physical and digital copies of Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold.

This is something the press have wondered about ever since the game first launched. Nintendo doesn’t share digital sales data very often, so this offers a rare insight into how one of the most popular games on the Switch has sold over the past year.

In the company’s financial report for the year ending December 31, 2020, Nintendo outlined how Animal Crossing: New Horizons has now sold 31.8 million copies around the world since it launched on March 20, 2020.

The game launched just as lockdowns began to come into place around Europe. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may well have helped the game sell so well. There was also a surge in Switch hardware sales at the time, leading to stock shortages around the world. This was all because people were looking for better indoor entertainment to keep them occupied while they were forced to remain indoors for months on end.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons went on to become one of the best-selling titles in many regions for 2020, including Japan and the UK.

As we approach the game’s first anniversary, Nintendo has announced plans for in-game celebrations. Players will be able to take part in special events, pick up new items for their island and home, and enjoy celebrating with all other players around the world.

This year’s big Nintendo exclusive looks to be Monster Hunter Rise. The pres expect the game to go on to sell almost as well as Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Now, however, the world is a very different place. Most people are working from home, children are back in schools, and the world is opening up again. It’s possible that this will negatively impact the sales potential of the new Monster Hunter title, but with an increased Switch install base to sell to, it may still sell quite well.