As noted recently, Animal Crossing New Horizons is a game that has been DOMINATING sales charts despite the global pandemic. It was revealed via the recent Nintendo Q1 2020 sales numbers that the game had now reached over 22 million units, including selling 10 million in the three months of that quarter which was AFTER the initial release of the game in March.
But now, things are getting even MORE interesting, as a post on Twitter revealed that Animal Crossing New Horizons is now technically the best-selling game in the history of Japan. If you wonder why we say “technically” it’s because the combined sales of Pokemon Red/Blue/Green in Japan top it by a fair margin at present. But that’s combined, Animal Crossing has ONE version, so thus, it’s the best-selling game in Japan’s gaming history.
Here is the Top 10 list if you’re curious:
1. Pokemon Red/Green/Blue (Game Boy) – 10,230,000
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) – 7,500,000
3. Pokemon Gold/Silver (Game Boy Color) – 7,1710,000
4. Super Mario Bros. (Famicom) – 6,810,000
5. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) – 6,490,000
6. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (DS) – 5,850,000
7. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) – 5,800,000
8. Pokemon Black/White (DS) – 5,530,000
9. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire (GBA) – 5,400,000
10. Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS) – 5,330,000
This not only puts Animal Crossing in a whole new tier of legitimacy, it’s a standard bearer that not many will be able to surpass. And as you’ve noticed by now, there are no other Switch games on that Top 10 list. The next game from Switch is at No.13 with Smash Bros Ultimate and then Pokemon Sword/Shield combined at 16.
So well done Animal Crossing, well done.