The continuous head to head between Mario Kart 8 Deluxe e Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the best-selling game title on Nintendo Switch led the second to exceed the threshold of thirty-one million copies. For a relatively niche genre such as life simulators, therefore, it is far from a foregone conclusion, and the Big N has realized it.
During an interview written by Nihoi Keizai Shinbun, an economic periodical better known as Nikkei, the president of the Japanese giant Shuntaro Furukawa has unbuttoned more about the (positive) impact of the unexpected success of the seraphic title for the hybrid console. The otherwise dire circumstances in which the game came out undoubtedly benefited the title.
What was said in the course of the conversation, as you will see below, has many ramifications both for Nintendo's strategy in game development and for its entire business model. In a translation by colleagues from Nintendo Everything, Furukawa spoke about the situation of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
It is true that our recent growth comes from the need to stay at people's homes. Although (Japan's) state of emergency has been lifted, people are spending more time at home than they did before. While games with a long lifespan like Animal Crossing are being accepted more, we believe it will have a significant impact on future development. We want to create games full of communication between friends and families.
Throughout the pandemic, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has helped friends and families connect in new and unexpected ways. Seeing Nintendo draw a positive message from this, therefore, can only be good news, especially if we count that Furukawa has recently talked about a greater confidence in new IPs in the future.
