As we approach the first birthday of Animal Crossing: New Horizons this week, the success of Nintendo’s latest installment in its popular life sim series has been well documented throughout its first year on the market. The game continues to dominate software sales worldwide, and according to Nintendo’s latest financial results, it shows no signs of stopping.
New Horizons has become the fastest-selling game ever launched in Europe, shifting over 7 million digital and physical sales. As of December 31st, 2020, it has sold 31.18 copies worldwide, outselling the Nintendo Switch itself throughout 2020 (which shifted 27.3 million units).
Nintendo of Europe President Stephan Bole, unsurprisingly, was very pleased with the figures. “We’re truly grateful that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been embraced by so many players across Europe,” he says. “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.”
New Horizons is also close to tripling the lifetime cumulative sales of New Leaf’s 12 million, which was the previous bestselling Animal Crossing game.
With updates for the game coming this week and next, it looks like Nintendo is set to continue supporting New Horizons to keep players engaged, and with an audience that huge, it’s no wonder.
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Written by Reece Heather
A lifelong Nintendo fan and a longtime editor at Zelda Universe, Reece will forever be grateful that he somehow dodged the Naughty List of Christmas 1998, when Santa delivered the life-changing gift of a Nintendo 64 with Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Mario Kart 64. When he's not playing games, Reece is usually reading Punisher comics, delving helplessly into the weirdest depths of anime and manga, or spending time with his cocker spaniel Gracie -- the goodest girl ever!
