Nintendo's profits climb more than 400 percent amid coronavirus lockdowns
The coronavirus pandemic isn't taking much of a toll on Nintendo, which just had a massively successful quarter.
The company on Thursday reported $1.37 billion in operating profit from April to June, up more than 400 percent from a year ago and significantly more than expected, while its sales also doubled, CNN reports. The Nintendo Switch console has seen a surge in sales as consumers stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic seek entertainment, and it sold 5.7 million devices this past quarter, a 167 percent year-over-year jump.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nintendo's life simulation game set on a tropical island that launched in March, has been a particularly huge hit. It sold an additional 10.6 million copies this past quarter, according to CNN, which takes its sales to more than 22 million copies.
To put that in perspective, not only is Animal Crossing already the second best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but as The Verge's Sam Byford notes, it has actually outsold Nintendo's GameCube.
CNBC described Nintendo's jump in profits for the quarter as "wild," while CNN's Frank Pallotta said the numbers were downright "bonkers." Needless to say, if these sales could be exchanged into bells, Nintendo would have no problem paying off its debts to Tom Nook.
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