THE RISE OF ANIMAL CROSSING

Animal Crossing is a Nintendo game series about exploring, creating, and living in your own self made paradise. While there are 5 versions of this game released worldwide, we’re going to be focusing on the one released in March, 20, 2020; Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I’m going to specifically talk about how Animal Crossings New Horizons, became so popular, especially during the times of COVID-19.

Throwback to when COVID-19 started, everybody was in lockdown and the streets were barren, everyone was stuck in their homes with barely anything to do. This resulted in most people going on social media a lot. They did this to try and escape the reality of the pandemic and because they were craving socialization. As a result of this, the release of New Horizons during this period caused people to go nuts for the game.

Animal Crossing provided people with the socialization that they yearned for so much. The game allowed players to invite other players to their island and basically do fun everyday tasks without the stress of COVID. Some people have even claimed that its the universe we’ve always wanted, but cannot have. Animal Crossing is a unique game because the theme and play style of the game can be enjoyed by gamers and non-gamers, and children to millennials, even though the design of the game may seem childish.

Nintendo Switches flew off the shelves and Nintendo’s sales went up by 541%!

To conclude my article, Animal Crossing New Horizons was a cultural phenomenon in 2020 due to its ability to provide people comfort, social interaction, and escapism during such a difficult time. The popularity of the game really shows how it can hit home to people and provide them with entertainment.

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