Never Ending Realm

Video game reviews, fan fiction, gaming news, and more! Since 2003. We especially love JRPGs, RPGs and the best of the rest. Never Ending Realm: Where your favorite games live forever!

Menu
  • News
    • PlayStation
    • Nintendo
    • Xbox
    • PC
    • Mobile
  • Fan Fiction
  • Opinion
    • Throwback Bit Thursday
    • Games Costing A Kidney
    • Thank God It’s Friday
  • Lists
  • Reviews
  • Humor
  • About
Menu
nintendo switch lite console

Nintendo’s Switch is the Biggest Winner of the Pandemic’s Video Game Sales Boom

Posted on June 3, 2020February 18, 2021 by Samuel Rivera

While the effects of the Pandemic and the subsequent worldwide lockdowns hurt world economies and many industries a few have seen growth, in some cases exponentially. The Video Games Industry had one of the biggest surges in sales ever recorded for a month of March in it history.

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sales grew by 25 percent from the previous March (2019). Nintendo’s Switch however, more than double its sales (partly) fueled by the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Nintendo sold 4.2 million Switch units for the month. A staggering number that couple with some factory shutdowns (due to the pandemic) caused shortages and skyrocketed the price of Switch device sin online stores like Ebay.  A quick search this morning revealed the system is selling for 499.99 in some places, and this price is being charged for the device without a packed in game.

The Switch retail’s price remains fixed at 299.99 and considering how well the device is selling I do not expect Nintendo to drop the price until the PS5 and the Series X arrive later this year.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons without doubt was one of the fueling forces behind the sales surge. The moved 13 million units in 6 weeks. The number undermines Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VIIR’s own record setting 3.5 million units in three days, as it is safe to assume that the sales tapered off after that (SE has failed to release follow up numbers after announcing the 3 day recording setting sales).

animal crossing new horizons
New Horizon’s is the fastest selling Switch title ever.

The Switch as it nears the 60 million units sales mark, has become Nintendo’s most popular console/portable machine in the last decade. It is expected to surpass 3DS lifetime sales, and it has already left the Wii U’s disastrous sales in the dust. Nintendo’s bounce back from its most disastrous home console cycle (Wii Us) is commendable.

Some franchises seem to be doing better on the system than they did in Nintendo’s highest selling console the Nintendo Wii. The just released  Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edititon ( a remastered version with extras of the original Wii RPG) sold twice as much as the original did at launch.

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild has also become the highest selling Zelda of all time as it approaches the 18 million unit mark.

Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is not only a critical masterpiece that opened horizons in the franchise’s game world, but also in its sales reach to a wider audience.

The Switch’s launch killer app, is actually a slightly ( A higher 900p resolution while docked, in comparison to the Wii U’s 720p resolution, plus a more stable framerate) enhanced port of the Wii U’s swan song title. It arrived too late to save the Wii U, but it was exactly what the Switch to needed to ignite its record setting run. At point the actual Breath of Wild title had outsold the Switch units early in the hybrid console’s launch period.

The other factor that has bolstered the system’s sales is the cheaper $199.99 portable only Switch Lite. Shortages have this unit selling anywhere from $249 to $300 dollars on internet outlets. Either way, so far so good for Nintendo. It will interesting to see how the Switch fares when the new competing consoles arrive this holiday season.

Category: News, Nintendo
Tags: Action-Adventure, Action-RPG, Animal Crossing New Horizons, Animal Crossing Series, JRPG, Life Sim, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, RPG, The Legend of Zelda Series, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow us on social media!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Must Reads

  • 2023 is Here and The Never Ending Realm Turns 20 Years Old
  • Throwback Bit Thursday: Remembering a Merry 1998 Christmas 
  • A Mid 2022 PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X Comparison
  • TBT: Five Critically Underrated 32-Bit Era JRPGs
  • The Rise and Fall of Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs)
  • Yoshida: Final Fantasy is Struggling to Keep Up With Industry Trends
  • The Top Ten Greatest Final Fantasy Games of All-Time
  • Top Ten Greatest ‘The Legend of Zelda’ Games of All Time
  • 5 Of The Best JRPG Heroes
  • The Top 10 Best Selling PlayStation 2 JRPGs (All Time Sales)

Action-Adventure Action-RPG Bandai/Namco Bethesda CD PROJEKT RED Chrono Cross Cyberpunk 2077 Final Fantasy (Series) Final Fantasy IX Final Fantasy VI Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VII Remake Final Fantasy XVI First-Person RPG First Person Shooter Halo: Infinite Halo Series JRPG Microsoft Nintendo Nintendo 64 Nintendo Switch PC PlayStation PlayStation 1 PlayStation 2 PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 RPG SEGA Sega Saturn Sony Square Enix Tales Series The Legend of Dragoon The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time The Legend of Zelda Series XBOX Xbox 360 Xbox Game Pass Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X Xenogears

  • Legend of Dragoon
    Masayuki Kasebe: The Legend of Dragoon Could Have Saved FFVII Remake
  • Wukong cover
    Wukong Dev: No ‘Black Myth’ Version for Xbox Thanks to Difficulties on Underpowered Series S
  • Astro Bot Water Effects
    2024 Recap: Xbox Launches its Best Games, Xbox Gets out of the Race Against Sony, Astro GotY, and More!
  • Intergalactic protagonist
    Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet the Most Hated New Game Reveal? Concord 2.0?
  • Astro Bot Water Effects
    Astro Bot Review (PS5)
  • FFVII Rebirth
    Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Welcome to the Multiverse! Review (PS5)
  • Echoes of Wisdom Raises Zelda To New Heights Through Brilliance, Grace and Elegance – My Review and Verdict
  • Legend of Zelda Fanfiction: The Plane of Masked Yearning – Part Seven
  • PS5 Pro
    PlayStation 5 Pro’s $700 Tag: A Peek at a Future Without Xbox?
  • Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
    Final Fantasy Should be “Political”: Has Sakaguchi Been Misunderstood By News Outlets?
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright 2022 by Never Ending Realm, Mont Cessna & Samuel Rivera