Animal Crossing: New Horizons has reportedly become the best selling game during the first half of 2020 in Japan, with over an estimated 5 million physical copies sold.
The game sold 1.8 million physical units in its first three days on sale in Japan (making it the best opening week for a Nintendo Switch game), and analysts later claimed the game sold 5 million digital copies over March 2020 (more than any other console game in history).
Later it was revealed the game sold 11.77 million units in its first 11 days on sale, and 13.4 million in its first six weeks. In mid-May, it had become the fastest selling Nintendo Switch game in Japan.
Now, Famitsu reports industry sales figures for the first half of 2020; from December 30th, 2019 to June 28th, 2020. This includes spending on video games totaling ¥174.8 billion (estimated $1.64 billion USD); ¥95.47 billion on software (estimated $890 million USD) and ¥79.3 billion on hardware (estimated $740 million USD).
Famitsu also reports that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold over an estimated 5 million units in Japan since December 30th via physical copies and download cards. Digital sales were not included.
For comparison, Famitsu reports Final Fantasy VII Remake sold over an estimated 931,000 physical copies and download cards in the same period of time. Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched March 20th, while Final Fantasy VII Remake launched April 10th.
Other facts Famitsu report include how the Nintendo Switch has helped Nintendo have “the largest market size since 2012” (Translation: Google Translate), with an estimated 2.6 million units sold in Japan, and lifetime sales of 14 million.
The PlayStation 4 comes in second, with over 435 million consoles sold over the six month period in Japan, and over 9 million units in its lifetime. It should be mentioned the PlayStation 4 launched in 2014 in Japan (the Nintendo Switch launching in 2017), and the PlayStation 5 launches Holiday 2020.
Performance in the Japanese games industry is also reportedly the largest first-half of a year it has been since 2012. This is likely aided in part by the coronavirus pandemic, and the quarantine orders keeping many indoors.
The coronavirus pandemic has also been attributed to Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ success. Reasons vary from its cute and relaxing tone, to providing a sense of routine and stability at a difficult time.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now on Nintendo Switch. In case you missed it, you can find our review here (we recommend it!)
Image: Reddit
