Animal Crossing: New Horizonsswept across the world like no other game in the franchise, bringing peoplenew ways to express themselves and connect with each other during the Coronavirus pandemicthat caused many to be stuck at home. While the game itself doesn’t differ too much from previous entries, its popularity is undeniable. With that in mind, one has to wonder whether it makes sense for Nintendo to try and catch lightning in a bottle again with a sequel or if it would be better to run with the current entry for as long as possible. There’s a lot to consider when takingAnimal Crossingin that kind of direction, though.
To the uninitiated,Animal Crossing: New Horizonsmay seem like some revolutionary game that can engage casual players and hardcore turnip salesmen like nothing has before it, but that isn’t really true. The franchise has been around for a while, and a smaller subset of gamers have already been enjoying it for years.Animal Crossing: New Horizonsmanaged to bridge the gap between this smaller group of players and the general public, bringing the franchise into the spotlight all around the world. Nintendo will need to tread carefully if it wants to keep that spotlight.
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Games as a Service
It isn’t a new term, though it has been becoming more prevalent in recent years, but essentially this is a discussion ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizonschanging to the Games as a Service (GaaS) model. With this method, games receive a constant stream of updates, downloadable content, and the like in order to stay relevant as opposed to releasing sequels. A great example of this isDestiny 2, which most players purchased only once when it released back in 2017. Since then,Destiny 2has grown significantly through seasonal content, expansions, and in game events.
Astute readers may point out thatDestiny 2is obviously a sequel by nature of the numeral at the end of the name, and this is a testament to show that theGames as a Service model can’t last forever. At some point, especially on console, an upgrade needs to be made that allows developers to start fresh with new ideas. Even so, the originalDestinywas around for three years before its sequel came and took over, and even though it has been three years sinceDestiny 2’s release, there’s no word on aDestiny 3releasing any time soon.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Post Launch Support
In a wayAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsis already doing this. With the way its bugs and fish are set up, there’s a sort of monthly update already baked into the game. Additionally, Nintendo hasn’t fallen behind in terms of seasonal events, withEaster, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas events to name just a few. Considering these, players have gotten a ton of new content added to the game already without paying a single dime for it, showing thatAnimal Crossing: New Horizons' value doesn’t depreciate over time like standard games.
Perhaps most importantly, there’s a seemingly endless flow of content coming from the game’s more creative aspects. Players can create nearly anything they want to within the limits of the game, and they can even share that content with each other. Even if Nintendo doesn’t put out new content, other players are always creating and sharing.Players can visit others' islands, check out dream towns, and moreall without Nintendo even lifting a finger. These things placeAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsjust shy of the Games as a Service model, and at this point many are still expecting a sequel at some point.
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Perfects the Formula
Though it would beeasy to attributeAnimal Crossing: New Horizons' success entirely to the COVID-19 pandemicand the subsequent lockdown, that would be selling the game short and isn’t the full story.Animal Crossinghas always had an appeal much wider than its actual audience, andNew Horizonstook things a step further by perfecting the formula. From the obvious things such as the quality of the game’s audio and visuals to the nitty gritty of how everything works,Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis in a place where it can only grow upward.
That isn’t to say thatAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsis without flaws, as there are many things that players would like to see changed or fixed, but rather that this is the best starting point Nintendo has ever had and likely ever will with anAnimal Crossinggame. To create a new game and go through all the work of convincing players to buy it would be far more difficult than adding large content updates to the one everyone already has and enticing players to come back if they’ve left. This is the basis of the Games as a Service model.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Games as a Service
Though it sounds great in theory, what would this actually look like forAnimal Crossing: New Horizons? For starters, it would need to have periodic updates that are much bigger than the seasonal events that are in the game now.Paid DLC content forAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsthat adds the capability for players to expand to new islands full of different NPCs, shops, items, and regions for example would be one thing it could do. Adding more end game content or taking the seasonal approach like inDestiny 2would be another great way to keep things fresh.
Essentially, it would fall onNintendo to constantly and consistently updateAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsso that there’s always something for players to do in the game. Eventually, it may be that the game runs its course and a sequel is necessary, but that wouldn’t be for a very long time. The ground work has already been laid for a truly amazing and long-livedAnimal Crossinggame, it’s just up to Nintendo to capitalize on that by maintaining it in the years to come.
