2020 was a strange and surreal year in many ways, but one way it wasn’t was in what ended up at the top of the gaming charts. Though, having said that, maybe there was a surprise in just how long certain titles have stayed on top. One of those was Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While always a strong seller for Nintendo, this title seemed to take it to a whole new level. It was among three titles that dominated Europe.
GfK Entertainment, who track sales across Europe, released stats that showed the top video games of 2020 were Animal Crossing: New Horizons, FIFA 21, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe across 19 EU-based countries. FIFA 21 is no surprise, as it’s always been a juggernaut and released on every major platform. Animal Crossing has been at the top of European charts from France to Germany to the UK, where it’s still charting even now in 2021. Mario Kart sticks out, but the game has been a constant presence on charts since it launched on the Switch, so odds are a lot of people are buying it with their new Switch.
It’s worth noting that GfK is only counting physical sales here, and in some regions the digital split is more stark than others. The UK, for instance, has been noted over the last few years to be weighted heavily toward digital. Whether that would change anything is anyone’s guess, but I imagine both Animal Cross and FIFA 21 would probably still be safe. There’s also a couple of notable exceptions to the overall charts as well, with The Last of Us Part 2 taking a top spot in Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia and Sweden. You can look at the full article and breakdown in the link below.
Europe's top 3 video games of 2020 were #FIFA21, #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons and #MarioKart 8 Deluxe. This is the outcome of a special crossplatform evaluation undertaken in 19 countries. @eafussball @animalcrossing @NintendoDE https://t.co/m8pPczY6VD pic.twitter.com/4R3yaZsYWn
— GfK Entertainment – An NIQ Company (@gfkentertain) January 21, 2021
