It seems that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s reign of terror at the top of the Nintendo Switch sales chart has come under threat by Tom Nook, as Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the third fastest-selling Nintendo game in tracked history.
The anticipation for Animal Crossing: New Horizons was already sky-high in the run up to its release, as the last mainline entry in the series to appear on a home console was Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Nintendo Wii. The fact that Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released during the self-isolation period has helped the game’s sales tremendously, as people have a lot of free time on their hands that can be spent cultivating deserted islands.
The love for Animal Crossing: New Horizons was far greater than anyone realized. Mat Piscatella has revealed the NPD Group’s sales figures for March 2020, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the best-selling game of the month, as well as becoming the second best-selling game of the entire year, behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. These figures do not take digital downloads into account, as Nintendo doesn’t release these figures.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now the third-fastest selling Nintendo game in recorded history. The only games to have sold more in their launch month were Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Nintendo Switch also saw a huge spike in sales, setting a new record for hardware sales for the month of March. The previous record-holder was also the Nintendo Switch, but that was during its own launch month in 2017.
The next financial report released by Nintendo is going to be very interesting, as it feels as if the top spots on the sales charts are going to see a huge shake-up. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has dominated the Switch’s sales charts for a long time, but it really feels as if either Animal Crossing: New Horizons or Pokémon Sword & Shield will have what it takes to steal the top spot. If these recent figures are accurate, then Tom Nook will finally have all of the Bells that he could ever want.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Nintendo Switch.
Source: MatPiscatella/Twitter
