As reported by The Verge, the Biden-Harris ticket will begin campaigning inAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsstarting today, September 1. Four signs have been released so far, whichAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsplayers can download and place on their islands, if they desire to do so. The designs include the Biden-Harris logo, “JOE” with a Pride flag as the “E,” “TEAM JOE,” and a row of red, white, and blue aviator sunglasses that Biden is known to wear.
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ConsideringAnimal Crossing: New Horizons' sales successand it being virtually impossible to campaign in-person right now amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it makes sense for the Biden-Harris team to use the game to campaign. To help promote their content in the game, professional gaming influencers will be hosting streams showing off the in-game merchandise to their viewers. It’s possible that the team will useAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsin other ways as well, or even look into using other video games besides Nintendo’s popular life simulation game.
One unlikely possibility isJoe Biden usingFortniteto campaign. At least one political adviser has already suggested that he do so by mimicking things like the Travis Scott concert event. It seems unlikely that Epic Games would want to promote political content inFortnite, but given that game’s massive audience, it would potentially be a huge “get” for either candidate.
It’s worth mentioning that Joe Biden himself has had a somewhat tumultuous relationship with the video game industry over the years. In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, Biden held a summit at the White House where he met with top video game executives to discuss the topic of video game violence.Biden later referred to a video game executive as a “little creep"and suggested that the video games the exec’s company was making “teach you how to kill people.”
Of course,Animal Crossing: New Horizonshas virtually zero violent content, outside of being able to whack villagers in the head withbug catching nets. In any case, it’s likely that political campaigns will continue to use video games, especially as the medium continues to grow.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis out now, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
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