Nintendo Switch is on course to have the best year of any console since 2010, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons is doing pretty well too.
2020 has been a tough year for just about everyone. People have been turning to anything they can find to take their minds off of the real world and in a lot of cases that anything has been video games. Even for casual and non-gamers. It's why the industry has seen something of a boom in 2020, and no one appears to have benefitted from that boom more than Nintendo.
There are a variety of reasons for that. For starters, hardcore gamer or not, you probably know what a Switch is. It's price, availability, and accessibility make it the perfect option for anyone without a console who wants one. It also makes sense to have bought a Switch in 2020 rather than a PS4 or Xbox One since they are in the process of being replaced by next-gen upgrades.
All of that seems to have led to not only the Switch's best year to date but the most successful year for any console since 2010. That's at least according to Gamesindustry.biz's Christopher Dring. Dring tweeted, "Nintendo Switch in the UK is on course to have the most successful year for a games console since Xbox 360 in 2010."
The 360 saw a jump in sales that year, shifting 1.9 million units worldwide in December alone despite it being on the market for five years prior. Nintendo is also on track to clinch the title for the best-selling game in the UK in 2020. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is set to be the best-seller for boxed games which is a bigger deal than it seems on the surface.
The popularity of FIFA in the UK means it normally takes the crown for best yearly sales on a single platform (usually PlayStation) without much competition. Right now, ACNH is set to beat FIFA 21's sales on PS4. If it manages to do so, it will join an elite group of franchises that include Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto to have managed that. In a year where PlayStation and Xbox have released new consoles, it could well be Nintendo that stands tall.