A recent post by Famitsu suggests worldwide downloads for Animal Crossing: New Horizons have now surpassed 10 million.
This follows on from Nintendo's fiscal year earnings report in May, which revealed the newest entry in the life simulation series - at that point - had sold 11.77 million copies in just 12 days, giving it the "best start ever" for a Switch title. It got even better when a chart released by the company illustrated how the game shifted 13.41 million copies in the first six weeks.
Around the same time as Nintendo released its original sales figures, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa explained how initial sales had "greatly exceeded" the Japanese company's expectations. In fact, it sold so well, it had already surpassed lifetime targets.
Here's a recap, courtesy of a translation by Oni_Dino of Nintendo Everything:
The initial sales of Animal Crossing: New Horizons have greatly exceeded our expectations. We were targeting the current sales numbers for the game’s lifetime considering fans have been waiting such a long time for this game, but it all happened at a much faster rate than we anticipated.
At the rate Animal Crossing: New Horizons is selling, it wouldn't be a surprise if it catches up to Pokémon Sword and Shield, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (which are all nearing the 20 million sales) before the end of this year.
Until we get a more official update from Nintendo, tell us in the comments if you've contributed to the digital sales of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
[source famitsu.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 51
This is just insane, couldn't be more happy for Nintendo. It's about time this great series received the attention it deserved.
Not bad at all for a series that used to have a small audience!
Bloody hell that is impressive!
I am indeed one of those who have contributed, and it's well deserved.
Wow, congrats Aya and Nintendo. That number is mind-blowing.
@Tyranexx well actually no, I mean I'm no fan of the series but I think New Leaf sold over 12m and another game in the series before that sold 10 or 11m too.
They haven't been Pokémon level or even as successful as it has been now, but they've always had decent sales. I'd certainly say it was an evergreen title before this game too.
2 games selling 10+m each is certainly not bad.
If the game has been sold digitally 10 million times then I'd say it's an easy bet the game will ship 20+ million copies in total. It's just been one success after another on Switch.
People are still arguing that 3rd parties don't do well on Switch. But let's examine why that is. Here is the way I see it: Most 3rd party games, especially from "big studios" so-called AAA studios, are ports or older games or games designed for different hardware. Very few 3rd party games on Switch have been designed with the Switch in mind, to take advantage of the Switch and with the hardware in mind.
In my opinion, it's only natural that if you have to modify something meant for a different platform that you wont see the kind of success you get with products designed for that platform.
It's not just that BOTW, Pokemon, Smash and Animal Crossing are Nintendo first party exculsives, but that they were made with the Switch in mind.
If companies like Ubisoft, Bioware, EA, Activision, etc etc actually brought their A-game development to the Switch, made games for the Switch, instead of relying on modified versions of PS4/PC games, they might well see similar success. If they put the same kind of effort into their Switch releases that they do for other platforms.
@Heavyarms55 I mostly agree with this on 3rd parties but I will say that an exclusive MonHun game will shift good numbers.
Maybe not as good as this but if it was made good, exclusive to the Switch, I could see a good 10m seller. Considering the best MonHun game on the 3DS has sold over 5m, the popularity of the game in Japan, how the Switch is number 1 in Japan, ect..., I can see 10m being possible on the Switch possibly more..
I hope Capcom would do it.
@Razer Used to is the keyword there though. The first game in the series (Animal Forest) sold about half a million at most (possibly less, don't have exact figures), the second 2 million. It wasn't until Wild World that it hit ~11 million sales and became a mass audience title.
@Heavyarms55 Except Zelda wasnt made with the Switch in mind. It was more of an afterthought. BotW 2 will be a different beast all together.
Gotta thank the Animal Crossing fans for helping save the environment too. Amazing work y’all.
So what's the total sales including digital and physical? Why is it so hard to find that number anywhere? Whoever writes articles like these don't think people want to know I guess.
Unless Famitsu got this information directly from Nintendo, I would take their digital sales estimates with a huge grain of salt.
With that being said, Animal Crossing obviously sold a massive amount of digital copies.
@Razer In my post, I was referring to the original game as I thought I'd read that one was a bit niche for the time. I know New Leaf did very well. As for Wild World, I'm sure it did very well as it was on a popular platform. Can't really speak for City Folk.
Honestly, until New Leaf, I didn't know the series existed. But there are a few reasons for that.
@link3710 yeah that's true.
I guess that depends on how far back his "used" to meant, sounded as though it was just before this game.
@Tyranexx ah okay yeah fair enough. I mean 2 or 3m isn't too bad either considering they were a new franchise at the time.
But yeah nowhere near as much as now. The franchise has made loads of gains since then.
@westman98 I've tweaked the headline, just to be on the safe side.
Looking at the Famitsu article, the source of the figure is a press quote from Yumi Katsura International Co., Ltd, a formal wear and wedding dress company. This is not a reliable or informed source and there's no indication that the company has any affiliation or partnership with Nintendo, only that they're providing some free designs/patterns during June.
Not that it's expected considering the source, but the line in question also doesn't explicitly mention the e-shop or make a distinction regarding download cards or otherwise.
I hope you guys and GoNintendo did your due diligence.
@Razer New Leaf didn’t sell nearly this fast, though. Let’s put that into perspective.
@mesome713 what? Animal crossing fans are ruining the environment
Bruh surprising that such an incomplete game can sell so much. I love animal crossing but New Horizons is so lacking. C'mon nintendo wheres a direct
@Razer Agreed. I don't see Nintendo shelving it anytime soon.
Still need to play one of the games. I'll likely pick up New Horizons at some point, but it's not a huge priority right now. I've only had a Switch for a few months and am playing catch-up.
If all that is true, then Tom Nook must be ready for a comfy bed of his own earnings for the night
Figured it would do well, but not this good, likely going to pass some really big hitters.
@link3710 first Animal Crossing actually sold 2 million units. Look it up.
@Spoony_Tech It wasn't tailor made with the Switch in mind originally, but was surely heavily influenced by it. Yes it was originally planned as a Wii U game and was later made for both Wii U and Switch, many games start out being made for one console and end up released on a newer unit. That doesn't mean they didn't adjust it for that newer platform.
The difference is that games like, say the Witcher 3 or Wolfenstein were made with more powerful hardware in mind and had to be heavily re-worked to function on the Switch and it was largely an afterthought as something that came about later after a finished product was already done. But Nintendo had every opportunity to make needed adjustments to BOTW for Switch before launch. They didn't have to take a finished product designed for a much more powerful machine and cram it down.
@Razer That's what I'm getting at, it doesn't even really need to be an exclusive, it just needs to be made for the Switch, with the same level of effort that those 3rd parties put into their PS4/Xbone/PC releases.
The reason 3rd party games seem unpopular on Switch should be obvious to everyone in my opinion: the vast majority of them are older titles designed for different hardware. Of course they aren't going to sell as well on Switch as they did when they were new, on the hardware they were designed for.
Those are great numbers and I am happy for them, but a small distinction needs to be made: “downloaded” does not necessarily mean “sold”. Case in point: I have downloaded the game twice, as I have 2 Switch consoles, but only bought it once. Also it is entirely possible to download multiple times for other reasons, e.g. you change your SD card and do not want to copy the contents of the old one over, or you get bored and uninstall the game, then decide to install again, etc.
I still think its a bit annoying with the updates, it feels like l have to update the game everyday.
@Tyranexx yeah I remember buying the first one on GC and all my mates thinking I was mad!
Anyway good to see the success of new horizons. Talk about the right game at the right time!
AC has evolved and the number reflect that.
I keep saying I've started to slow down on play time... but still play at least 2 hours a day.
When New Leaf sold 11 million copies I thought that may be the sales ceiling for the series, but you just can't underestimate the power of the Switch's universal appeal, and the games sales ratio for the console is so good, all Nintendo franchises have the potential to perform much better on the Switch.
It will be interesting to see if Pikmin 3 does get a deluxe release, how well it sells, as if it sells low numbers on the Switch there is little hope for the franchise, and in all fairness Metroid too.
@Heavyarms55
I think the main problem with third party games on switch is that people have generally played the games before, and that even comes down to 'brand new' games, repetitive ideas with little flare to set them aside from the rest. Let's face it their only trick is 'Look how good we made it look!' and they have been flogging that line since the PS1 so no surprise that sales tactic is flagging. I have no intention of buying one but I will be watching Sony on Thursday to see what they have come up with but I'd put a bet on that it's core strategy will be based around that same line.
Obviously I appreciate that Nintendo could have be accused of the repetitive line but at least with a good thought to innovation or changing things up. Third parties use marketing to design their games, ala the best idea in current times making a FPS get a low age rating!!
I think regardless of Mario kart 8's sales Nintendo need to get the next game out on the Switch, it will be a goldmine, and I am pretty sure Nintendo have had a pretty decent return out of the current game.
I can confirm I am 1 of the potential 10 million downloads. I think with the shortages of physical stock and the fact that it is the type of game that most people play regularly but for short periods of time, its much more convenient having it digitally rather than physically.
I mostly play docked mode, but this game is made for digital. A quick switch (no pun intended) inbetween Diablo3/SMM2/AC:NH is just fantastic
It took on the role of quarantine-induced anxiety reliever that many were needing. A nice island with nice people, and you're the zen-master in control of it all.
@Pod,
The recent situation helped sales, but lets be honest here, the game was always going to sell well on the Switch, the outbreak has just pushed people to buy the game as a download rather than physical.
I bought physical, but i love the game so much, i contemplated buying a digital version for my kid to have their own island. That is how much I love this game.
And, i love how people are putting this game in the same sentence with Odyssey and BotW. New Horizons is excellent.
@johnvboy
Lots of famous/semifamous people sharing their alone time with the game because of the quarantine can't have been bad for brand awareness either though.
@Pod,
Without a doubt, but it's a good game that was advertised well, on a format which has a high sales ratio for first party games, of an established franchise.
@LatsaSpege,
Same here.
Yeah I bought it digital. It just makes sense for the kind of game it is. I also have Smash Bros digitally.
@HammerKirby Yeah, that's the second one. I specifically said Animal Forest (the N64 game) sold under a half mil, and Animal Crossing (the GCN game) sold over 2 mil.
@datamonkey As long as you enjoyed it, I'd say it was a good move!
Jeez, that's $600,000,000 in digital sales!
@Razer those titles did sell well.... Over 6 years. This is in just a few weeks. That is far more impressive and deserves high recognition.
@link3710 oops sorry I was wrong. Although shouldn't they all count together since the Gamecube game was just a port? And also the only release in US and Europe? I mean half a mil for a late n64 release only released in Japan (where n64 wasn't very successful) is really pretty good.
@HammerKirby The GCN had a real time clock, new holidays, new special characters (Tortimer, Blanca, Kappn) , the Abel sisters and custom designs, the museum and Blathers, the NES games, new furniture / outfits, and the GBA island.
That's at least as many differences as Wild World and City Folk.
And all we know is that AC outsold AF in Japan. So AF sold at the absolute most 500k, but it could've been far less.
@link3710 yeah but the GC game was definitely marketed in Japan as a port. It also uses nearly the exact same graphics
Great news, now put a patch in the game that expands the villagers dialogue. Repeating the same three conversations gets old quick.
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