Nintendo Switch exclusive Animal Crossing: New Horizons has regained the top spot in the UK sales charts almost a year after it was released, demonstrating just how popular the life sim remains. The Nintendo title has proven to be incredibly successful, with many attributing its high sales to its quality and coinciding launch with the start of global COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The popularity of the game has also led to many fan creations, such as a recent crossover between Lil Nas X and Animal Crossing for the music video "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)."
The huge audience for Animal Crossing: New Horizons has even led to a partnership between the game and Build-A-Bear to create products based on characters from the series. While the collection quickly sold out, Build-A-Bear has since confirmed that more stock would be coming in April alongside additional characters, although the identity of future products has not been officially revealed.
The hugely popular Animal Crossing: New Horizons has regained the top spot in the UK sales charts for boxed games more than a year after its initial release. According to GamesIndustry.biz, the Nintendo Switch exclusive has now sold more than 1 million physical copies in the UK, making it the second most popular title in the region after FIFA 21. This is despite the fact that Animal Crossing: New Horizons released more than a year ago and saw a 21% decrease in sales over the last seven days.
Nintendo Switch games dominated the UK charts for the week ending April 10, with exclusives Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Monster Hunter Rise, and Ring Fit Adventure all also appearing in the top 10. FIFA 21, which is available on practically every platform came in second place, while Grand Theft Auto V, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla rounded out the rest of the chart, which saw no new games appear in the list.
Further evidence that the popularity of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is unlikely to fade anytime soon came in March when a series of Sanrio amiibo cards based on the game sold out almost instantly. The Target-exclusive DLC packs became unavailable soon after they released, leaving fans having to purchase them from online scalpers for vastly inflated prices.
While this UK sales charts don't take into account digital copies that have been purchased, the fact that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has regained the top spot shows just how enduring its success has been. It is even more impressive considering how anticipated games like Outriders and It Takes Two only launched in the last few weeks.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz