Animal Crossing predicted to be Switch’s best-selling game in Japan

Famitsu, a Japanese games magazine, released its sales chart figures for April 20 to 26, revealing that Animal Crossing: New Horizons achieved a sales record in Japan.

The game sold an estimated 283,913 copies in Japan last week, taking its lifetime sales total in the region to 3.89 million since its launch on March 20.

In terms of physical sales in Japan, New Horizons is now the best-selling game on the Switch, surpassing the former king of sold copies, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, by roughly 230,000 units. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sales are estimated to be around 3.66 million physical units.

For the last two weeks, Famitsu’s charts have shown the trajectory of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game’s sales number continued to rise, surpassing Pokémon Sword and Shield and Final Fantasy VII Remake. Last week, New Horizons became the second best-selling Switch game.

Animal Crossing also remained ahead of the remake of Trials of Mana, which was released on March 24 by Square Enix. The game is an action RPG originally launched in 1995. 

Nintendo doesn’t regularly provide its digital sales data. But on May 7, the company will release official numbers alongside the figures for the first 12 days of sales for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Here are the top 10 games with this week’s estimated sales and total sales in parentheses:

1. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo): 283,913 (3,895,159)
2. [PS4] Trials of Mana (Square Enix): 80,383 (NEW)
3. [NSW] Trials of Mana (Square Enix): 70,114 (NEW)
4. [PS4] Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix): 65,569 (839,074)
5. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo): 15,264 (2,897,849)
6. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo): 12,351 (778,943)
7. [PS4] The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Zero – Kai (Nihon Falcom): 10,979 (NEW)
8. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo): 9,636 (3,665,504)
9. [NSW] Super Mario Party (Nintendo): 9,377 (1,416,280)
10. [PS4] Predator: Hunting Grounds (Sony Interactive Entertainment): 9,172 (NEW)

Nintendo Switch hardware sales also saw a bit of a boost this week, with more inventory reaching shelves after distribution had been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are this week’s figures, followed by lifetime sales in parentheses:

• Nintendo Switch: 66,609 (11,234,177)
• PlayStation 4: 18,123 (7,570,758)
• PlayStation 4 Pro: 14,933 (1,513,721)
• Xbox One S: 65 (21,210)
• Xbox One X: 177 (19,816)
• Nintendo Switch Lite: 40,495 (2,164,537)
• New Nintendo 2DS LL: 1,690 (1,124,332)
• New Nintendo 3DS: 94 (5,887,198)