By River Davis

TOKYO -- Nintendo Co.'s latest "Animal Crossing" videogame, a lockdown favorite, helped the company record its best April-June quarter in 12 years.

Profit in the quarter, typically a quiet period in an industry that relies on holiday-season sales, increased by more than six times from a year earlier to Yen106 billion ($1 billion). That was the best April-June figure since 2008, when the Nintendo Wii was at the height of its popularity.

The company said it sold 10.6 million copies of its videogame "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" in the latest quarter, leading total software sales to more than double year over year. Sales of the Switch game machine nearly tripled to 5.7 million units.

Gamers in the U.S., stuck indoors, have found solace playing "Animal Crossing." In the game, players take the role of a character living on a deserted island, fishing, planting trees and crafting items to pass the time. The Americas made up close to 40% of Nintendo's sales for the quarter.

The first edition of "Animal Crossing" was released close to two decades ago for the Nintendo 64.

"People do seem to be looking for some kind of escape from reality. The entire home entertainment business did well this quarter," said a Nintendo spokesman.

Supply glitches in February and high demand led to shortages of the Switch machine in the U.S. and Japan, but production got back on track as of May, and shipments are forecast to increase from now on, according to the company.

Despite its strong quarter, Nintendo maintained conservative forecasts for the full fiscal year ending in March. It forecast sales would drop 8.3% over the previous year to Yen1.2 trillion, while net profit was predicted to fall 23% to Yen200 billion.

Competition for videogame players' attention is set to heat up at the end of the year when Sony Corp. introduces its PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Corp. brings out the Xbox Series X.

Write to River Davis at River.Davis@wsj.com