After Animal Crossing: New Horizons didn’t get any media attention during Nintendo Direct’s presentation at E3, fans of the game were quite upset that the company, who has sold over 31.8 million copies of the game, hadn’t had any updates on the future of the game or its usual seasonal updates. But, in recent post-E3 interview with The Verge, Nintendo of America President, Doug Bowser, briefly confirmed details that Nintendo wasn’t going to leave the beloved game behind. Here’s what Bowser had to say:
While we didn’t talk about it [Animal Crossing: New Horizons during E3], we absolutely have plans going forward to ensure that the 33 million people who have islands out there have fun and new activities to engage with. Look for more to come.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons exploded when it released on March 20, 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic. Many people used the vibrancy and pure existence of a “great escape” to an isolated island to get away from their harsh reality, COVID-19. With millions locked indoors all across the world, players enjoyed creating a new world with cute anthropomorphic animals–the game became comfort for so many new and old gamers alike and gained attraction quickly.
The game became one of Nintendo’s largest selling games and produced a mass frenzy of people who wanted to purchase a Switch. Bowser details that because of the game’s storyline that featured likeable characters like Tom Nook, Timmy, Tommy, and Isabelle, Animal Crossing: New Horizons singlehandedly changed the demographic of Switch users. More women and casual gamers began taking a liking to the game and their console, causing a huge upsurge in the supply for Switches during the height of the pandemic where manufacturing companies weren’t producing enough for the demand.
Although the statement of “new and fun activities” is pretty vague, fans of the franchise can now confirm that Nintendo is going to keep supplying the game with new content, hopefully, that new content provides more than just new seasonal items as fans are wanting more.