Nintendo scores on ‘Animal Crossing’ sales
Firm says consumers in major markets bought 13.4M copies of new game in first six weeks
TOKYO—Nintendo Co. beat its forecast for Switch machine sales and said consumers have bought more than 13 million copies of its latest “Animal Crossing” game, evidence that people staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic are flocking to videogames.
The company had projected on Jan. 30 that it would sell slightly fewer than two million Switch units in the JanuaryMarch period, the final quarter of its fiscal year and traditionally a slow time for the industry after the holiday season.
Instead, it sold more than three million, bringing the fiscal year total to 21 million, including the newer Nintendo Switch Lite model.
The company said consumers in the U.S., Europe and Japan — Nintendo’s main markets — have purchased 13.4 million copies of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” in its first six weeks since it went on sale worldwide March 20.
Videogames have proved a popular way to kill time during lockdowns that have left many people at home.
Sales of software for the Nintendo Switch rose 42% by volume in the year ended March 2020. The company said sales of role-playing games “Pokemon Sword” and “Pokemon Shield” together topped 17 million in the year.
Demand for the “Animal Crossing” game and supply-chain issues during the pandemic have led to some shortages of the Switch hardware, but Nintendo said the shortages had only a limited impact on its results for the fiscal year ended in March.
For the full fiscal year, Nintendo said net profit rose 33% to ¥258.6 billion ($2.44 billion) and sales rose 9% to ¥1.3 trillion. For the current fiscal year, which ends March 2021, it forecast slight declines in both sales and profit.
The company said delays in production and shipping appeared to be easing but cautioned it still might have trouble this year procuring components.
For now, it intends to take advantage of the Switch’s recently revived popularity.
“We plan to release not only new software titles, but also purchasable and free updates to already released software that will encourage consumers to continue playing on Nintendo Switch,” said Executive Officer Hajime Murakami.
The company said that included continuous updates to Animal Crossing in coming months.