Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-04-20)

T H N O L O G Y

18

Edited by

Molly Schuetz and

Jeff Muskus COURTESY NINTENDO (7). DATA: BLOOMBERG; NINTENDO CO.; FAMITSU

Thelatest in Nintendo’s video

game series has revived the

company’s Switch

In the past three weeks, millionsofpeoplelocked

up at home and tired of scanni

lines have sought solace ina

lated by pastel cartoonanim

island dotted with sparklingw

perky palm trees, the videoga

Crossing: New Horizonshas

a haven where real people

ning weddings, rebuildingth

lives, and even staging pro-d

demonstrations. The latestit

the Nintendo Co. franchiseco

come at a better time—forth

socially distant people or forth

game maker.

One of the biggest hitsof

erawasoriginallyscheduledto

in2019,beforethe Covid-19d

d t t d B t thegame wasd

pers couldimp

oncern aboutho

g Switch conso

ofmajor hardw

ft Corp. andSonyCorp.Andasthe

outin China,forcingfactoriesto

onths, production bottlenecks threat-

mitsupply of the console, sending

shares in mid-March to their lowest

mosta year.

butof Animal Crossing: New Horizons

20,as much of the world huddled in

quarantine,quieted any doubts about Nintendo’s

prospects,breaking Switch sales records and

turbocharging demand to the point of causing a

global supply shortage. Nintendo’s major challenge

now is figuring out how to deliver a Switch to every

person who wants one. “The game is the perfect fit

for people today, because you can spend unlimited

hours in the warm and gentle world,” Morningstar

Research analyst Kazunori Ito says. “I have never

seen so many people sharing so many screenshots

of a single game on social networking sites.”

Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold more pack-

aged copies in Japan in its first three days, 1.88 mil-

lion, than such legendary Nintendo franchises as

Super Smash Bros. accomplished in their first two

weeks, according to game magazine Famitsu. Since

its release, New Horizons has surpassed 3 million in

domestic sales, a figure that understates its popu-

larity, since it doesn’t include digital downloads.

It’s also exploded on smartphones, with average

daily installs of the game’s app version, Animal

Crossing: Pocket Camp, since the release of New

Horizons growing almost sevenfold from the

averageforthepreceding 30 days, according to

SensorTower.

l report  earnings on

stits conservative esti-

console sales in the fis-

ch31. The $300 Switch

00 Switch Lite, a hand-

onthat doesn’t connect

gether sold more than

nitsin Japan the week

zons became available

00 the following week.

arket accounts for 20%

total Switch revenue,

e company.

y video games are surg-

these days, but Animal

ily-friendly appeal—a

ross Nintendo’s fran-

g it an advantage. New

h iteration of the Animal

life simulation game,

sedin 2001. In the cur-

anuninhabited island

wheretheyhavea choiceofreal-life activities, rang-

ingfromfishingtogardening to arranging mort-

gages. To be social, people can hop to neighboring

islands and see what their friends are creating.

Nintendo developers are allowed as much time

as they need to be satisfied with thequality of

the game before its release, accordingtoa com-

pany programmer, who asked not tobe

identified because he’s not authorized

to comment publicly. The additional

time given to improve New Horizons

Animal

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