Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a huge hit since its March release, perhaps even more so because of the current self-isolation rules, to the point where many celebrities are joining in with the fun. To that end, Rogue One writer Gary Whitta has created a talk show— one that takes place inside New Horizons using his own avatar.
One thing that some people didn't anticipate with Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the amount of inspiration it seems to be giving its players, fueling their creativity. However, this may be the first in-game talk show to make a debut, and Whitta is clearly having fun with it in his Twitch streams; the show has been dubbed "Animal Talking."
Whitta created this show to emulate late-night talk shows in game form, taking plenty of inspiration from The Tonight Show and Between Two Ferns, for example. The show follows a standard talk-show format as well: it boasts celebrity guests, topical humor, and live music from guest artists.
Given the sheer amount of collectible objects, furniture, and wallpapers available in New Horizons, Whitta was able to design his island and create a basement studio in his "house" that really resembles a talk-show stage. His first episode starred Whitta as host and guest Naomi Kyle, and his most recent episode welcomes Mary Kish, comedian Mike Drucker, and musical guest Raquel Lily as guests on the show.
As fans are gradually discovering, New Horizons seems popular with celebrities too. Elijah Wood recently visited a fan's island to sell his turnips, and Danny Trejo invited fans to visit his own island. For those who remember the old days of playing Animal Crossing on the GameCube, it may be strange to see the franchise coming this far and skyrocketing in popularity, but it truly feels like this is the golden age of Animal Crossing.
For Whitta's part, he decided to continue running his talk show after the success of his pilot episode, to the point where he's planning a whole season one.
With all the attention on Animal Crossing right now, it's hard to imagine what fans will accomplish in the game next, but it's only been a month since launch. From here, the possibilities for amazing creations seem almost endless.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available for Nintendo Switch.