Anyone who has paid attention to the gaming scene over the last couple of years knows thatAnimal Crossing: New Horizonshas been a huge hit. However, it’s just achieved a massive milestone, surpassing every other game released thus far.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonslikely would have performed well regardless, as many people owned a Nintendo Switch at release, and many players are long-standing fans of the series as a whole. However, due to the game landing in the very early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the game served as an outlet for people cooped up at home, and started destroying sale records as a result.
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Now,Animal Crossing: New Horizonshas blasted through one of the most impressive sales records possible to become the best-selling game of all time in Japan.New Horizonshas now cleared 10 million copies sold solely in Japan, pushing it past the previous record holder ofSuper Mario Bros., which has moved 6.81 million units over the course of its lifetime. An impressive feat, to be sure, especially since the next-highest seller was theoriginal trio ofPokemongames.
Overall,Animal Crossing: New Horizonshas moved over 37 million units worldwide, putting it just behindMario Kart 8 Deluxeas the overall best-sellingSwitch game. The Nintendo Switch was already considered a success prior to the pandemic arriving, though some might not have imagined Nintendo’s future being this bright while the company was still struggling with the Wii U’s sales performance.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsprovides players with plenty to keep them busy, and the recent release ofHappy Home Paradise DLChas likely increased the number of sales overall. While the restrictions revolving around the COVID-19 pandemic have been reduced, chances are a lot of players are still seeing their island getaway as a comforting place to return to during stressful moments of this unprecedented time.
Now that the Nintendo Switch has entered its mid-life, it remains to be seen what the future of the developer and its consoles will be. Chances are the next Nintendo console will see new iteration ofAnimal Crossingon it, but that’s likely still many years out. At the moment, the team behindAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsis working on thedevelopment ofSplatoon 3, which is still slated to release sometime in 2022. While it’s certainly a more active and competitive game thanAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, its colorful and cheerful aesthetic may see it topple some sale records of its own.
