Today marks the first anniversary of the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons (abbreviated as ACNH), the long-awaited next instalment of a much-beloved, twenty-year-old franchise. It’s well known among slice-of-life gamers for its cute graphics, its diverse (and often savage) cast of animal villagers, and the somehow forgivably reassuring nature of its often inefficient and frustrating mechanics. The game had been highly acclaimed since its early teaser trailers at E3 2019.
Last year, however, Animal Crossing took centre stage in a whole new way after its launch in the early months of the pandemic (a few days before schools shut down in Calgary).
The Numbers:
Upon release, ACNH quickly climbed the charts to become one of the bestselling games of the year. Even now, it continues to break sales records . As of their February 1st financial report, Nintendo had sold 79.87 million Nintendo Switches worldwide. They had also sold 31.18 million copies of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This makes nearly 40% of Switch owners also Animal Crossing players, a staggering number. In an article for thenextweb.com, Callum Booth writes: “The average combined height of humans across the world is 165.25cm, so if everyone who bought a copy of the game laid head to toe, they would stretch 51,524.95km. That’s enough to go around the circumference of the Earth and the moon.”
Impressive, right? Nintendo actually had a fantastic year all around, having reported in February a 98.2% increase in year-on-year profit. This is something which it definitely owes in part to the pandemic. Without it, I can say with some certainty that although ACNH would’ve been a clear hit, it definitely wouldn’t have drawn so many players from such a diverse range of backgrounds. Nor would it have managed to garner so much global attention.
A Cultural Phenomenon:
Billed as “Your Personal Island Escape,” ACNH’s release was perfectly timed. As the wave of lockdowns began to pick up, people flocked to the game en masse. In a time when people felt unsafe just leaving their houses, Animal Crossing was a constant. It promoted creativity and self-expression as well as routine and stability. It gave people some semblance of normalcy. This was further improved by the social functions which allowed players to visit each other’s islands. Suddenly, Animal Crossing was a site for birthday gatherings, weddings, and occasionally even a protest by PETA. Joe Biden’s campaign even built an island centring around the election.
Of course, this wasn’t without its dark side. Social media turned a relaxing, aesthetically pleasing game into something filled with stress and standards of aesthetic and beauty unattainable without investing hundreds of hours into the game. Toxicity and ridiculously inflated prices for inter-player trade became a notable turnoff.
Ultimately, however, ACNH’s influence on the time was mostly positive. At the end of the day, it’s a cute game filled with endearing anthropomorphic animals and “debt, but interest-free.” What’s not to love?
Year In Review:
The fact that one year later, ACNH is still breaking sales records should speak for itself in terms of the longevity of the game. Unlike most massive trends, it ebbed and flowed in popularity but never truly saw itself die. In fact, the developers just released a first anniversary update featuring an item called the “first anniversary cake,” the number explicitly specified.
With the game continuously receiving new updates and collaborations (most recently with Sanrio), it looks like the the message is clear: Animal Crossing is not going anywhere. And given how many people have taken to it—and the joy it’s brought people in a dark and uncertain time—I’m glad. Besides, I still have unfinished business on my own island. It would be a shame for people to lose interest before I got to show off my hard work!
Got a minute? Check out these island tours showcasing some of the beautiful islands that people have created in the game:
Beautiful modern Japanese island video
Studio Ghibli inspired island video
Link to #animalcrossingnewhorizons on Instagram
