Animal Crossing: New Horizons is reportedly now the best-selling video game of all-time in Japan.
That’s according toGame Data Library, a website which collates Japanese sales data. According to the site, New Horizons has now sold 10.45 million copies in Japan, surpassing the long-time record held by originalPokémonGame Boy titles Red and Green (10.23m).
TheNintendo SwitchAnimal Crossing title has achieved the feat despite only releasing two years ago. Three of the other four titles in Japan’s top 5 were released over 20 years ago (includingPokémon Gold & Silver, Super Mario Bros.).
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become Japan’s all time best selling game.pic.twitter.com/yonNxSkBkd
The fifth best-selling game in Japan isSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, which released for Nintendo Switch in 2018. In total, six Switch games make up the top 20 includingMario Kart 8 Deluxe,Pokémon Sword and Shield,Splatoon 2andSplatoon 3.
According toNintendo’s latest sales numbers released this week,Animal Crossing: New Horizonshas sold 40.17 million copies globally, as of June 06, 2025. That suggests more than 35% of Switch users have purchased the game.
On Switch, only Mario Kart 8: Deluxe has outsold Animal Crossing at 48.1 million copies sold.
New Horizons has more than tripled the lifetime cumulative sales of 12 million for Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which was the previous best-selling entry in the series.
Nintendopreviously claimed there wasa high ratio of digital sales for New Horizonsin multiple regions at release, averaging around 50% in Japan, the US and Europe.
Speaking in 2020,Animal Crossing series head Hisashi Nogami and New Horizons director Aya Kyogokudiscussed the history and future of the franchise during an online talk for Japan’s Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC).
In the wide-ranging presentation, Kyogoku reportedly told attendees that the key to the series’ 20-year popularity was its ability to make each instalment different enough from the last, while also retaining the core appeal of the series.
“While this is the real pleasure of developing a series, it is also the most difficult point,” she said, adding that the development team had realised over the years that Animal Crossing series “cannot be sustained without change.”
