New Delhi: Home quarantining measures amid the coronavirus pandemic has helped Japan’s Nintendo make massive profits due to a surge in demand for its popular video game called ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’.
Six weeks after the latest edition of ‘Animal Crossing’ was launched on 20 March, the Kyoto-based firm’s “operating profit tripled to 89.5 billion yen ($842 million) in the March quarter after it moved 13.4 million copies” of the game.
‘Animal Crossing’ is the fourth spin-off game that was first launched in 2001. Created by Katsuya Eguchi and developed by Nintendo, it is a social-simulation video game that lets a player escape to a “deserted island” and carry out various activities such as fishing, bug catching, as well as fossil hunting with anthropomorphic animals.
“You can hunt down insects at the crack of dawn, decorate your paradise throughout the day, or enjoy sunset on the beach while fishing in the ocean. The time of day and season match real life, so each day on your island is a chance to check in and find new surprises all year round,” the developers explained.
With a real-time internal clock, the game has days, seasons and even hemispheres that match those with the outside world. One player can engage with eight others simultaneously as they go about building their community from scratch and customise characters, home decorations, as well as the landscape.
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Nintendo initially estimated a sale of 20 million units
Nintendo had initially estimated a sale of 20 million units, keeping in mind uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on production and services. However, with people being forced to stay home, the firm saw a surge in demand for its Switch game consoles and the ‘Animal Crossing’ game.
There has even been a shortage of supply and the company unable to maximise its success. Nintendo said it expects to sell 19 million Switch console units in the current financial year. Its forecasts are widely viewed as conservative.
“We expect the Covid-19 impact on our production to go away by summer, and our 19 million sales forecast is based on that. But we will revise the forecast if the virus impact is set to persist longer than we currently expect,” President Shuntaro Furukawa said.
“There’s a risk that we may need to delay releases of the games we plan for this fiscal year. But, at this point, we don’t expect any major delays,” he added.
As the world slowly recovers from lockdowns, the gaming company also believes its production and shipping will resume.
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