Nintendo has sold more than 61.4 million Switch hybrid game consoles and more than 22.4 million copies of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. As these big numbers suggest, the Japanese company is the latest to benefit from gamers sheltering in place during the pandemic.
Nintendo shared the news today in its earnings report for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30. Nintendo has sold more than 406.7 million copies of software for the Switch. In the quarter, Nintendo sales hit $3.39 billion, up 108.1% from the same quarter a year ago. Net income was $1.0 billion, up 514.3% from a year ago. Software sales were up 23% in the quarter to 50.43 million copies sold.
During the quarter, Nintendo sold 5.68 million Switch consoles at a time when many people complained they couldn’t find the devices in stores or online. Specifically, Nintendo sold 3.05 million Switch units and 2.62 million Nintendo Switch Lite systems. The company said COVID-19 led to difficulty in procuring parts for manufacturing Switch consoles but that the situation has almost been resolved. If the impact of COVID-19 expands, however, Nintendo warned it could affect manufacturing again. And the company reported shortages in some regions because of the lag between manufacturing and restocking.
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition sold 1.32 million copies, and Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics sold 1.03 million copies in the quarter. But the star of the show was Animal Crossing, which had an enormous command of social mentions when it debuted on March 20, according to social media monitoring firm Spiketrap. In the first fiscal quarter, Nintendo sold 10.63 million units of Animal Crossing as demand for the quirky game continued.
The game penetrated mass culture, with celebrities appearing virtually in Animal Crossing for Gary Whitta’s popular Animal Talking talk show. I even appeared in Animal Crossing on a panel for the Virtual Beings Summit in mid-July — because we all want to be like Whitta.
Meanwhile, Nintendo said Ring Fit Adventure has topped 4 million copies sold since its release in October 2019, despite a product shortage. Mobile game income grew 32.7% to $125 million in the quarter. Nintendo did not change its forecast for the full fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. It expects revenues of $11.36 billion and is targeting 19 million Switch consoles sold during the fiscal year.
This fall, Nintendo plans to release The Crown Tundra, the second downloadable content (DLC) for Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass.