Animal Crossing: New Horizons is most successful Japanese Nintendo release since 2006’s New Super Mario Bros.

Evidently, only five games total have reached that mark

So we know that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is doing very well for Nintendo. How well? Try over 26 million units since September 30, 2020. It’s poised to eventually eclipse Mario Kart 8 Deluxe‘s 28.99 million mark if it keeps this up; as New Horizons was released nearly three years after Deluxe.

But it’s also very big in Japan. The Switch is crushing it over there (as are mobile devices, as Japan still heavily favors portable gaming), but New Horizons is too. According to information from analyst Game Data Library, now that New Horizons has reached the six million sold mark in the region, it is now one of only five titles ever to do so; and the first to reach that target since New Super Mario Bros. was released on the original DS in 2006.

As Game Data Library points out, it is likely the fastest-selling game in Japanese history too. It only took seven months to reach that figure, while Pokemon Gold/Silver attained that honor in 13 months, followed by Pokemon Red/Green/Blue (26 months), New Super Mario Bros (four and a half years), and Super Mario Bros. (Game Data Library projects around four years).

It’s a big win for Nintendo, and it came at basically the perfect time. While you could argue that the developers didn’t keep the ball rolling with substantial content (or timely quality of life updates that a lot of simulation titles are already employing), it already made its money!

Game Data Library [Twitter]