Animal Crossing: New Horizons Breaks Several Records in Europe Before First Anniversary

Animal Crossing: New Horizons released during a prime time in the year 2020. Right during the beginning of the infamous COVID-19 pandemic, Nintendo published the game as a Nintendo Switch exclusive. That the game was available only on Switch makes the insane success of the game even more surprising and admirable.

The game single-handedly lifted the sales of Nintendo Switch exponentially. The game dropped in March 2020 and sold 5 million digital copies globally within the same month. This shattered the record of any other console game in the past in a single month and also established it among the top 3 highest-grossing games in 2020.

Almost a year hence, New Horizons has broken Nintendo’s first-year sales record in Europe. The game is now Nintendo’s fastest-selling game ever in the region.

Animal Crossing: New Horizon posts glittering numbers for 2020-21

New Horizons is now Europe’s biggest and fastest-selling Nintendo game ever. This status includes both online and physical retail sales.

“We’re truly grateful that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been embraced by so many players across Europe. Animal Crossing has long been a popular franchise in Europe, and its continued growth is due to the love of our fans for this unique series,” stated Stephan Bole, the president of Nintendo, Europe region.

According to VGC, it was also Europe’s second-best game in terms of physical sales for the year 2020. FIFA 21 grabbed the first position on the list.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold over 7 million copies across Europe in all forms, as suggested by Nintendo’s internal sales data. Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold 19.41 million units (for cumulative sales of 31.18 million units) according to their Nine Months Earnings Report.

Moreover, senior analyst at Niko Partners, Daniel Ahmad, noted that up to 39% of Nintendo Switch owners have also bought New Horizons and have it installed on their device.

The game is close to tripling the lifetime cumulative sales of New Leaf (12 million) which also was the company’s best-selling title from the franchise before New Horizon released.

The refreshing and not-so-demanding nature of the game has made it a global favorite. The game’s first anniversary is just a few days away, and Nintendo plans to celebrate it big with the March update.