Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the first game to top the UK sales charts in 2021, following a year of critical acclaim and global success.
The battle for the best-selling Switch game is heating up, and it will be very interesting to read Nintendo's upcoming financial reports in February. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has dominated the Switch's sales chart since release, and even games like Pokemon Sword & Shield and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have been unable to pry it from its throne. A challenger to Mario Kart's dominance appeared in 2020 when Animal Crossing: New Horizons became a massive success on the Switch, where it quickly sold over 26 million units.
The UK sales figures for the end of 2020/beginning of 2021 are here, and Tom Nook has come out on top once again. According to GamesPress, New Horizons is the first #1 selling game of 2021 in the UK. It has pushed Fifa 21 down to second place, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe trailing in third.
The rest of the top ten is made up of other 2020 stalwarts. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is #4, Just Dance 2021 is #5, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is #6, Minecraft is #7, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is #8, Grand Theft Auto V is #9, and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is #10. One game that has dropped significantly is Cyberpunk 2077, which now sits at #15. Cyberpunk 2077 debuted at #1 in the UK sales chart, but it quickly tumbled from the top spot, once word got out about how broken the console ports were.
The Nintendo Switch was predicted to be the biggest hit over the 2020 holiday season, but we're still waiting on final sales figures for the period. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Switch beat the PS5/Xbox Series systems, considering all of the issues those consoles had getting to market. The sales figures of the Switch are just the side-story to the drama of Animal Crossing vs. Mario Kart. If New Horizons has toppled Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, then it will be the first franchise to outsell a Mario Kart game on a Nintendo platform since Wii Sports (or New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS, if you don't count pack-in games.)
Source: GamesPress