Sales of Nintendo Switch increased sharply in March 2020, 'Atsume Animal Forest' is extremely popular both in Japan and overseas



According to market research company NPD Group, total sales of the game market in March 2020 totaled $ 1.6 billion (about 170 billion yen), which is a 35% increase compared to March of the previous year became. March sales in the gaming market were the highest since 2008.

First Quarter 2020 Sales of US Video Games Boosted by Strong March Performance, According to The NPD Group

https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/2020/first-quarter-2020-sales-of-us-video-games-boosted-by-strong-march- performance-according-to-the-npd-group /

Nintendo Switch sales doubled year-over-year in March | VentureBeat
https://venturebeat.com/2020/04/21/nintendo-switch-sales-march-2020/

According to a NPD Group survey, cumulative game market sales in North America, including games, hardware, software and accessories, in January-February 2020 fell 28% year-on-year to $ 1.4 billion (about 1500 yen). Billion yen). Sales in January 2020 were 26% lower than in the previous year, and sales in February 2020 were 29% lower than in the previous year. By contrast, sales in March 2020 increased 35% year-on-year to $ 1.6 billion. In addition, total sales for the first quarter (January-March) of 2020 were 3 billion dollars (about 320 billion yen), a decrease of 4% from the same period of the previous year.

Mat Piscatella, an analyst in the gaming industry at the NPD Group, said, 'Many people across the United States have been staying home over the past few weeks as they have implemented strategies to keep them socially separated. People have started playing games in search of connections, 'he said, pointing out that the rising demand for games in North America is due to the spread of the new coronavirus.



In the game market, sales in hardware increased by 63%, software by 34% and accessories by 12% compared to the same month last year. It was also revealed that nine of the top ten game titles sold in March 2020 recorded higher sales than the top ten game titles sold in the same month last year. In addition, the total sales of game software is 739 million dollars (about 80 billion yen), and it is the highest number since '2011 March sales'. In addition, hardware sales in March 2020 were $ 461 million, and accessories sales were $ 379 million.

Among the hardware, Nintendo Switch had the most sales growth. According to Piscatella, sales of Nintendo Switch in March 2020 have more than doubled compared to the same month last year. It was also pointed out that the Nintendo Switch sales volume reached a record high in March 2020, and 'the highest number ever since the launch of the Nintendo Switch in March 2017'. The sales of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One also increased compared to the same month last year, but the ratio is 'more than 25%', which is a conservative number compared to Nintendo Switch.



In addition, as for the number of games sold in March 2020, it was said that 'Atsume Animal Forest' released on March 20, 2020 was the top, and in the United States 'Atsume Animal Forest is the past Animal Forest It has already exceeded the sales of the series, 'reports the NPD Group.

At 'Atsume Animal Forest', I enjoyed the slow life with animals and animals that can do fashion & interior & urban design, buying and selling turnips for fishing-GIGAZINE



Rob Liguori, President of NPD Group, said: “NPD is tracking weekly changes in consumer spending across the entertainment sector due to new coronavirus infections. A sharp decline in transactions across multiple industries during the pandemic period. As you can see, consumer spending is growing strongly, especially in the gaming industry. '

In addition, according to the game software / hardware sales ranking in Japan published by Famitsu in March 2020, the most popular software ranking is 'Atsume Animal Forest' with 2,608,417 pieces. , The result of pulling away the second place and below greatly. In addition, monthly sales of game hardware for Nintendo Switch was 830,944 units, an increase of 185% from the previous month, and PlayStation 4 was 64,492 units, an increase of 136% from the previous month.

in Game, Posted by logu_ii