Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been one of the top-selling games of 2020. The Animal Crossing franchise is a long line of beloved games ever since the original installment came out for the Nintendo 64 and GameCube back in 2001. It's a unique take on the social simulator by introducing anthropomorphic villagers with not a care in the world, and now it's evolved into a co-op opportunity where players can explore each other's islands.
Unsurprisingly, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is in the running for Game of the Year among all of the action RPGs with strong narratives that 2020 has to offer. But New Horizons' impact reaches much farther than a fun video game to play at the end of a long day. Nintendo couldn't have predicted it, but the Switch's installment of Animal Crossing released at the perfect time to provide social relief for gamers everywhere amidst a global pandemic.
A New Level of Social Simulation
It's not Nintendo that took the social simulator aspect of Animal Crossing: New Horizons to a new level during the pandemic, but rather its players because of the need for some form of socializing between friends. Visiting another player's town was a feature in New Leaf, but not in the same way it was used in New Horizons. The Stalk Market has been around since the beginning of the franchise, but because players had so much free time in quarantine, players basically exploited the system and were able to become multi-millionaires in-game in a single week. Because how else were they supposed to interact with others during mandatory lockdown?
New Horizons was used in ways that Nintendo never expected it to be because it's one of the only ways many could interact with their families and friends. Because of this, there's now a sentimental factor that's tied it. Graduations that were to occur in May and June have been postponed, but it's likely most will never happen at all. No matter, players simply staged a graduation celebration in Animal Crossing for their family members and friends. Needed to cancel a wedding? It's completely free to organize an in-game one, and with the number of decorations available in New Horizons, some gorgeous virtual weddings have come out of 2020. Though it's now banned by Nintendo, Animal Crossing political campaigns were also a creative way of canvassing to younger crowds.
The Animal Crossing franchise has never been a stranger to celebrating holidays, but in 2020, it's extra special. This year, folks are being encouraged to stay in and not travel for Thanksgiving and other holidays as many countries begin surging in their number of cases. It's to keep loved ones safe, but this isn't an easy task for many people. But perhaps Animal Crossing makes it a little easier to celebrate.
Co-op Games In 2020 and Beyond
Of course, co-op and multiplayer games aren't a new thing, but many indie games with unique experiences have peaked in 2020, and it likely has something to do with quarantine. Though it released years ago and the developers weren't expecting the surge in popularity, Among Us became a hit thanks to Twitch streamers. Instead of visiting real haunted houses, Phasmophobia offers the experience of ghost hunting with a team of friends and even implemented inventive audio features to make it a little bit more realistic. Would games such as these as well as New Horizons and Fall Guys become so popular without the need for social relief during Covid-19?
This also means a probably permanent change to the way games are used in the future. Meeting and hanging out with friends via online chatrooms such as Discord has become far more normalized, and similar communication tools like Zoom have become enhanced and more accessible due to the swell in their use.
Of course, the hope is that the pandemic won't go on much longer, but the likelihood that games like Animal Crossing being influenced permanently is high. How many more in-game weddings will be seen in the future because they're far more affordable? What other kinds of virtual simulation games will be born out of the Covid-19 pandemic?
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now for Nintendo Switch.