Nintendo have posted a huge quarterly report, with the company selling consoles and games almost like it’s Christmas. The Nintendo Switch has now passed another milestone and sits at 61.44 million units (just behind the lifetimes sales of the NES).
That’s in part thanks to Animal Crossing: New Horizons being the game to have through the early part of the Covid-19 lockdowns that have gripped the world. Animal Crossing has raced to a staggering 22.40 Million copies sold, with sales of 10.63 million in the quarter ending 30th June. That was joined by 1.32 million copies sold of Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition and 1.03 million copies of 51 Worldwide Games.
But back to Animal Crossing. It’s now the second best selling Switch game, chasing after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on 26. I 74 million, and having passed Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on 19.99 million. It’s on pace to be the outright leader by the end of this quarter, with Nintendo noting that it shows no signs of losing momentum.
All of that has led to net sales that have more than doubled and operating profits that have been quintupled, year on year. Ridiculous.
There’s no change to Nintendo’s forecast for the 2020/21 year, as published back in May, with the company still expecting to sell 19 million consoles. Still, we’d be surprised if Nintendo could keep up quite the same pace through 2021, assuming that the world is able to recover somewhat from the coronavirus. Animal Crossing’s appeal will eventually start to fade, and Nintendo will have to try and find another game or franchise that can reach as wide an audience.
