Credit: Nintendo

If only it could be under better circumstances.

While it may be a bit cynical to say, Nintendo could not have picked a much better time to launch Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch. With everyone stuck inside, unable to tend to their daily lives, a game about maintaining a daily life in a town of cute animal people is pretty much guaranteed to sell gangbusters which, spoiler, it totally did.

Nintendo posted its earnings today, and in a bit of news we’re seeing a lot less of lately, made some pretty sizable bank. Demand for the Switch console alone during the early days of the pandemic was already making them a lot of money, but the release of Animal Crossing was what turned a modest profit into an impressive boom. In the fiscal year ending in March, Nintendo’s net profit totaled 259 billion yen (approximately $2.4 billion). That’s a 33% jump from last year. Net revenue increased 9% to 1.3 trillion yen, with a threefold surge in profit in the fourth quarter alone.

Animal Crossing set the record for fastest-selling Switch game with sales surpassing 13 million copies sold in the first week alone and still going strong. Nintendo’s software sales have grown around 9% since the pandemic began, totaling approximately 1.3 billion yen.

Credit: Nintendo/The Verge

Unfortunately, things are not all sunshine and roses. Interruptions in travel and trade caused by the pandemic have made it more difficult for Nintendo to keep retailers supplied with both copies of their games and Switch consoles, and in-office research and development have been drastically reduced due to Japan’s current state of emergency. Despite the boost from Animal Crossing, Nintendo is projecting a 23% drop in net profit for this fiscal year.

“The situation regarding COVID19 is changing day-by-day around the world, so we will carefully monitor trends while continuing to gather information and taking the measures necessary to minimize the impact of these concerns,” the company said.