Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the fastest-selling single Switch game in the UK to date

A screenshot of Isabelle doing the daily announcements on an Island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons — (Image credit: Nintendo)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold more physical copies at launch in the UK than any other Animal Crossing game launch so far.

GameIndustry.biz reports Animal Crossing: New Horizons sales figures are 3.5 times bigger than Animal Crossing: New Leaf when it released on the 3DS in 2013. The figure only takes physical sales into account and doesn't include digital downloads, but with physical copies sold alone, it's officially the biggest single-game launch on the Nintendo Switch to date.

Pokemon Sword and Shield also enjoyed a very successful launch and hit an impressive amount of sales globally within its first week. If you consider the sales of Sword and Shield combined, the Pokemon games did have a bigger launch week than Animal Crossing, but the sales of Animal Crossing as a standalone title make it the fastest-selling single Switch title in the UK.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is also currently ahead in sales in comparison to the other big release, Doom: Eternal. The rivalry and fun crossovers of both games in the lead up to the release made for such a fun little pocket of internet goodness. In recent weeks we've seen all kinds of amazing fan art and creative projects that celebrate the fact they share the same launch date.

Prior to the figures being released, there was already discussion that New Horizons may be the Switch's most successful launch yet. The successful launch of New Horizons probably comes as no surprise to many. The game has truly taken over the internet, with many feeds being flooded with memes, screenshots, and videos of people showing off their latest adventures on their deserted islands. It's just the kind of wholesomeness we need right now.

Just getting started on your island and need some help finding resources? Here's how to find Animal Crossing: New Horizons iron nuggets.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.