New Leaf was supply constrained at retail so that's at least one reason.
Thats true, but even with download sales for New Leaf (i think it was 400k or 600k the first week?), the difference is really big. Its been quite a while since New Leaf though, so people are probably more used to getting a download version now.
The following are some reasons:
- Switch has had a massive effect on software sales for many franchises
- The last mainline game was over 8 years ago
- The streaming community hugely embraced the game
- The game has been incredibly well-received critically
- The corona crisis made it such that a game as cozy and escapist as Animal Crossing should get a good boost
- New Leaf proselytised the boons of Animal Crossing a lot I feel, what with it having been received really well back in the day
- It's a huge release in a quarter where Japan hasn't seen a ton of huge releases (nothing like KH3 last year, for example)
Even taking those into consideration, it's still a massive overperformance compared to expectations, of course. Crazy numbers, could be 3x or more what New Leaf did first week.
That make sense. Likely a combination of all those things, indeed.
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't every Nintendo 1st party game eligible for the voucher program, including Animal Crossing?
Also you ignore the current situation where people are more inclined to buy games digitally due to the virus and the nature of the game Animal Crossing is. I really don't see why AC should not reach Fire Emblem's 40% digital ratio. It's not a given but also not impossible.
Yeah, it is, but the discount isnt as big. One reason that was discussed why Fire Emblem had such high download sales in comparison to the retail version was because of the big voucher discount. One thing that i'm not sure of however, is the vouchers of unlimited supply in Japan? In the west, i think it was only one per cosumer or something (two games within one voucher).
Nah, i'm not ignoring those things (although to be fair, and granted, i didnt mention those things in my post, but its something that i'm aware of :)). I still think 40% sounds too high. As mentioned, the higher number there is, the harder it becomes to achieve similar percentage number. I agree that its not impossible though. Animal Crossing is a mega seller after all. But it will just be a guess unless Nintendo releases some PR statement on the first week sales. That said, i can see it reaching 3 million within 2-4 weeks anyway, so it doesnt really matter that much how many percentages it was the first week. The game will probably sell ~5+ million anyway too.
