Nintendo reports 428 percent profit spike amid coronavirus

Gaming giant Nintendo has seen its operating profits soar during the coronavirus pandemic, reporting an increase of more than 400 percent period on Thursday.

From April to June, the Japanese video game company brought roughly $1.37 billion — a 428 percent increase from last year, when it made $256 million during the same months.

The spike of sales coincides with a time during the pandemic when people around the world were encouraged by their governments to stay inside and practice social distancing.

A main factor in the huge jump was the success of the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite, the company’s flagship consoles. For the quarter, Nintendo sold 5.68 million units between the two game systems, a year-on-year jump of 166 percent.

Another driver was the highly anticipated release of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Since its release in March, Nintendo has sold 22.4 million copies of the game, more than even its über-popular “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” which was released in 2018.

Only “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” has sold more copies for the Switch.