2020 was a great year for Nintendo as their Switch console became a sought-after item during lockdowns around the world, and the most recent financial report by the company shows it plainly.

Nintendo’s year-end financial report shared today showed that the Switch had now sold 84.59 million consoles worldwide, with 28.8 million being sold between March 31, 2020 and 2021.

The massive growth the console has seen over the past twelve months can be attributed to a spike in popularity as gamers were forced to bunker down during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to the release of the wildly popular Animal Crossing: New Horizons on March 20 last year.

The latest addition to the Animal Crossing franchise, New Horizons was a huge success and was a driving factor in many gamers’ decision to purchase the console. The game also did well past its phenomenal launch, selling over 20 million copies worldwide in the past year for a total overall of 32.63 million sales, becoming the most sold Switch game for the 2020 fiscal year.

In their report, Nintendo forecasted the sale of another 26.5 million Switch consoles this coming year, taking the console’s overall total past the 100 million mark. The projected number is surprisingly lower than the sales that were done in the last 12 months for the four-year-old console.

This could be a conservative estimate due to production shortages, much like the semiconductor shortage currently being faced by PlayStation and Xbox. The Switch has been on the market since 2017 though, so it would not be a stretch to believe gamers are opting for next-generation consoles.

Nintendo has been rumored to be planning a release for their upgraded Switch console boasting a new display and more powerful hardware sometime in the next year. With the upcoming release of a new model, actual sales might sail past estimates for the technology company–and finally dethrone the Wii as Nintendo’s best selling console ever.

ncG1vNJzZmicn6mytLzOq6usZpOkunC6xLCqaKWfp7JuwMeapWZwZGK6qrjLoqanZZ6eu7WxzZ2mZqunnsGktIycpqern6GytHnSqKOdZWJtenl5zKKjpaGfo3qquoytn55loJbAtXnYnpir