Animal Crossing: New Horizons couldn’t have come at a better time, and its first week sales are indicating as much too. In the UK the Nintendo Switch exclusive has already topped physical sales charts and sold more than all previous entries combined, but it’s in Japan where Tom Nook and co. are really setting sales charts alight.
Reported by Famitsu, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now the fastest-selling Switch game in its first week, outpacing previous record holder Pokemon Sword and Shield. That’s 1.88 million physical copies sold, which easily beats out the 1.36 million that both Sword and Shield sold combined during the same time. Everyone really wants to get their islands looking good quickly it seems.
The launch of New Horizons also impacted overall Switch consoles sales in Japan. A reported 392,576 units were sold in the past week, which is a new weekly sales record for the Switch across its entire lifespan in Japan. Famitsu also only reports on physical sales, which omits all digital copies and bundled ones with the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch variant, which also continually sold out before launch.
Nintendo will likely report on its full sales during the company’s financial earnings call this coming May, but it seems New Horizons is on track to be a big hit for the company. And it’s unsurprising, given how fantastic the exclusive is. In our review in progress for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, reviews editor Kallie Plagge says, “So far, I’ve played Animal Crossing: New Horizons for 80 hours over 17 days, and that anticipation hasn’t yet gone away. While I’ve spent a lot of time developing my island so far, I still feel as if there’s plenty left for me to do and see–there’s a lot in New Horizons to occupy your time with.”
Harry Miller is a writer and editor based in Toronto who has Ten years of experience in the journalism industry. Before coming to Canada News Media as a National Online Journalist, Miller worked as a senior writer and a reporter-editor with the Canadian Press and a breaking news reporter with the Toronto Star.
Miller currently holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in journalism from Ryerson University and another in communications and film studies from Carleton University.
