Animal Crossing New Horizons is the best-selling video game in France in 2020

For ten years now, the ranking of the best-selling video games in France has been dominated by the military saga

Call of Duty

(Activision) or the football simulation

Fifa

(EA).

This purring routine was broken in 2020. "

Animal Crossing New Horizons is number one in sales

", reveals Philippe Lavoué, general manager of Nintendo France.

The latter is based on the classification established by the Gfk institute, which counts the copies in physical format sold in France by distribution and e-commerce sites.

The video game industry does not communicate on its digital sales.

Read also: Animal Crossing, a Nintendo phenomenon

How many French people have bought

Animal Crossing

?

We will have to wait until February and the publication by Sell (union of video game publishers) of its annual market report to find out.

But we can bet that the game has crossed the million sales mark: this is the usual performance of the football game Fifa, of which the penultimate opus had sold 1.2 million copies in 2019.

Animal Crossing New Horizons

was released on March 20, when France had just entered containment due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"

It is a fortuitous coincidence and I will not describe it as happy

", underlines Philippe Lavoué.

“

But we are happy to have helped those confined to feel less alone and to escape mentally.

This game, which allows you to live an idyllic day-to-day life in a village populated by animals, has become a worldwide phenomenon with 26 million sales between March and September.

Many players have called it a bubble of air and optimism in an extremely anxiety-provoking climate.

Read also: Animal Crossing, this video game that has become a comfort bubble

The attraction to

Animal Crossing

did not end with the deconfinement of spring.

If the first buyers were young adults, "

families with children took over from the summer

", explains Philippe Lavoué.

The game has continuously remained in the top 3 sales and still is at the start of 2021. The

Animal Crossing

license

, which until now was more discreet, “

has clearly changed dimension with this episode.

This is also the case with the Nintendo Switch.

"

Strong increase in Switch sales

The phenomenon has indeed singularly boosted sales of the Nintendo console.

“

The annual growth is in double digits as the console is in its fourth year of marketing.

It's unheard of for Nintendo,

”emphasizes Philippe Lavoué.

Nintendo France indicates that 7% of French people own a Switch, which, according to our calculations, gives 4.7 million copies.

In 2019, the console's installed base was 3.3 million copies.

Growth is therefore over 40%, and 2020 sales are split equally between young adults and households with children.

“The Switch is in the middle of its life cycle.

It still has great potential for progress, ”

said the CEO.

Other Nintendo-signed games are among the top best sellers of 2020, such as

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

or

Super Mario 3D All Stars

, a reissue of three Mario adventures released in 1996, 2002 and 2007. The exercise game

Ring Fit

also performed very well.

"

The closure of sports halls has been favorable to him,

" recognizes Philippe Lavoué.

“Ring Fit, Ubisoft's Just Dance and Animal Crossing form a combo that convinces a new audience to buy a Switch.”

But maybe the real surprise is

51 Worldwide Games

.

This compilation allowing you to play on Switch traditional games like dominoes, blackjack, chess, checkers, solitaire or backgammon did better than

Ring Fit

, but also

Hyrule Warriors: Age of the Scourge

or

Paper Mario: The Origami King

.

If Nintendo France's assessment in 2020 is positive to say the least,

“it was not a given.

We faced two confinements and the closure of departments and specialized stores in November, ”

recalls Philippe Lavoué.

“I would like to salute the responsiveness, adaptation and innovation of French distribution, which has been exemplary.

We were able to keep our players happy thanks to click and collect and internet shopping. ”