The records I’m talking about are the highest launch sales and the all time highest sales.
Animal Crossing New Horizons beat Pokémon Red/Blue/Green’s 10.23 million total sales record, and at 3.45 million Splatoon 3 obliterated Pokémon Black and White’s launch sales record which stood at 2.6 million.
These records don’t change all that often.
Animal Crossing is only the third game to hold the record since recording began in 1989. Pokémon, though it released in February 1996 sold poorly initially, but became a massive sleeper hit after experiencing a sales boom after its first 16 months on the market. Here is the lineage:
Super Mario Bros 1985 sold 6.06 million (held record for 13 years)
Pokémon Red, Green, Blue sold over 6.06 million in 1998 and went on to sell 10.23 million (held record for 24 years).
Animal Crossing New Horizons has sold over 10.23 million.
*As a note, the original Pokémon released in 1996, but was a sleeper hit in Japan, it sold poorly initially.
Launch sales are the first week of sales, they usually account for the first 1-3 days of sales, but it’s not rare for, 95% of those sales to happen within hours of launch. These heavy day 1 sales in Japan is a tradition that began with Dragon Quest 2 whose launch was unlike anything else before it in the history of video games. Prior to DQ2, no games had a noteworthy sales launch. SBM3 had the second highest launch sales of 1988 after DQ3, but no number was given and the point is moot since it released after DQ3. Anyway, the record holder lineage:
Dragon Quest 2 launched with 500,000 sales in 1987
Dragon Quest 3 launched with 1.1 million sales in 1988 (held 2 years)
Dragon Quest 4 launched with 1.3 million sales in 1990 (held 2 years
Dragon Quest 5 launched with 1.3 million sales in 1992 (held 5 years)
Final Fantasy 7 launched with 2 million sales in 1997 (held 2 years)
Final Fantasy 8 launched with 2.5 million sales in 1999 (held 11 years)
Pokémon Black and White launched with 2.6 million sales in 2010 (held 12 years)
Splatoon 3 launched with 3.45 million sales in 2022.
Animal Crossing New Horizons beat Pokémon Red/Blue/Green’s 10.23 million total sales record, and at 3.45 million Splatoon 3 obliterated Pokémon Black and White’s launch sales record which stood at 2.6 million.
These records don’t change all that often.
Animal Crossing is only the third game to hold the record since recording began in 1989. Pokémon, though it released in February 1996 sold poorly initially, but became a massive sleeper hit after experiencing a sales boom after its first 16 months on the market. Here is the lineage:
Super Mario Bros 1985 sold 6.06 million (held record for 13 years)
Pokémon Red, Green, Blue sold over 6.06 million in 1998 and went on to sell 10.23 million (held record for 24 years).
Animal Crossing New Horizons has sold over 10.23 million.
*As a note, the original Pokémon released in 1996, but was a sleeper hit in Japan, it sold poorly initially.
Launch sales are the first week of sales, they usually account for the first 1-3 days of sales, but it’s not rare for, 95% of those sales to happen within hours of launch. These heavy day 1 sales in Japan is a tradition that began with Dragon Quest 2 whose launch was unlike anything else before it in the history of video games. Prior to DQ2, no games had a noteworthy sales launch. SBM3 had the second highest launch sales of 1988 after DQ3, but no number was given and the point is moot since it released after DQ3. Anyway, the record holder lineage:
Dragon Quest 2 launched with 500,000 sales in 1987
Dragon Quest 3 launched with 1.1 million sales in 1988 (held 2 years)
Dragon Quest 4 launched with 1.3 million sales in 1990 (held 2 years
Dragon Quest 5 launched with 1.3 million sales in 1992 (held 5 years)
Final Fantasy 7 launched with 2 million sales in 1997 (held 2 years)
Final Fantasy 8 launched with 2.5 million sales in 1999 (held 11 years)
Pokémon Black and White launched with 2.6 million sales in 2010 (held 12 years)
Splatoon 3 launched with 3.45 million sales in 2022.
