Nintendo has closed out January 2021 by announcing some very impressive sales figures concerning the Nintendo Switch console.
According to a report on IGN, the Japanese gaming giant says the Switch has now surpassed the Nintendo 3DS handheld console, racking up nearly 80 million unit sales (well, 79.87 million, but who’s counting?).
Nintendo’s golden Switch
On top of that, in Nintendo’s financial earnings release for the nine-month period ending 31 December 2020, it was revealed that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold 31.18 million copies, edging closer to the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s 33.41 million copies. To date, the latter is the biggest selling game on the Nintendo Switch.
While some of Nintendo’s success can probably be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic — people are less enamoured with the idea of leaving their homes and video games have been something of a boon to them — it’s also worth noting that digital sales for Nintendo games have jumped by 12.3% for year-on-year. This means that digital now accounts for 32.1% of Nintendo game sales.
Given the current state of the frequently locked-down world we live in, and the fact that Nintendo has some rather tasty releases in the pipeline for this year, it’s a safe bet that Nintendo may move from strength to strength this year. Well, that’s if the Reddit amateur investors don’t find some way to throw a spanner in the works.