Looks like people just can’t get enough of that Tom Nook. A new report shows that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the most successful entry in the Animal Crossing series. A big feat considering there has been an iteration of the game for almost every Nintendo console.
This report comes from Daniel Ahmad over on Twitter. The analyst has shared some interesting Nintendo data including the fact that New Horizons has “outsold every single previous Animal Crossing game combined”. With a whopping 37.62 million copies sold, the game has proven a popular choice amongst Switch users. The nearest game from the series to reach New Horizon’s success is Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS with almost 13 million copies sold.
Of course, New Horizons came at a time when video games became a lifeline for many. Launching in March 2020, the portable paradise game emerged right at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. As people were forced to quarantine and isolate themselves from the outside world, New Horizons became a way to connect with friends and family. Spending hours decorating and redecorating islands or inviting friends over to lounge on the beach, the game slowly became the best way to hang out amid a pandemic. Heck, there was even a talk show conducted completely through the game.
The game would go on to account for almost 10% of all Switch games sold from March 2020 to March 2021. Plus, it became the second highest-selling switch game in less than a year and the fastest physical game to reach 6 million units sold in Japan.
However, even with the world opening back up and perhaps returning to something resembling normal (maybe, hopefully), New Horizons is still going strong. The game recently propelled itself back into the charts with a massive update and the release of its first-ever paid DLC. Adding thousands of new items and hours of content, the update reminded players why they spent so much time on their island in the first place. However, Nintendo announced that it would be the last big update given to the game.
Though it may not receive any new updates, there is so much to do within the game that it will surely continue to be a staple in everyone’s Switch library.