Animal Crossingwas not among the many new and remasteredgames announced at Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct. The latest installment in the franchise,Animal Crossing: New Horizons, was released five years ago, leaving players hungry for more cozy, creative fun. Needless to say, the lack of news regardingAnimal Crossingas Nintendo prepares to launch the Switch 2 Console was upsetting for many fans, who now feel abandoned by the company.
Numerous fans took to Reddit, including userPegtz, to share their frustrations about the lack of newAnimal Crossingcontent. Another Reddit user,Disig, commented on a different post,“I won’t be buying a Switch 2 unless AC comes out basically.“You can see more fan reactions in Pegtz’s post below.
Animal Crossingrose to new heights of popularity thanks toNew Horizons' release in March 2020, going on to become theSwitch’s second best-selling gameof all time, behindMario Kart 8 Deluxe. Despite the series' incredible rise to prominence, the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct did not feature any form ofAnimal Crossingannouncement.
No Sign Of A New Animal Crossing, Or A Return Of The GameCube Original
Not Even An NSO Inclusion
While Nintendo did feature a brief glimpse ofNew Horizonsgameplay footage during Switch 2 Direct, since the console is backwards compatible, the company made no further comments on the future ofAnimal Crossing. Some fans, excited about the potential of old releases like the originalAnimal CrossingandAnimal Forest+returning, were quick to point out that noACtitles made the list ofGameCube games seeing a Switch 2 revival."[I] would’ve bought the Switch 2 just for that,“one fan saidof the GameCube exclusion.
The lack of announcements may simply mean something bigger is on the way. Nintendo previously released a special edition of the Switch alongside the release ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, which featured themed Joy-Cons. Fans remain hopeful that Nintendo will do the same for a newAnimal Crossingtitle and are saving both the game and the exclusive console announcement for another Direct after initial excitement for the Switch 2 calms down. Check out RedditoriSowelu’s thoughts below:
The consensus about a lack of newAnimal Crossingcontent is clear: fans feel that the game is too popular for Nintendo to leave it sitting, and in a market where companies market directly to consumers, the absence of Tom Nook and co. feels especially egregious to loyal players.
Our Take: Some Animal Crossing Fans Are Expressing Patience, As We Should
News About Nintendo’s Latest Plans Is Still Fresh
Despite the speculation, it’s important to keep in mind thatNintendo has announced a lot of new content in a short amount of time. In less than a week, gaming fans have gone from knowing next to nothing about the Switch 2 to almost all of Nintendo’s plans for the start of the Switch 2 era. As a few more pragmatic fans pointed out,Animal Crossing: New Horizonswas released three years after the debut of the original Switch, so if Nintendo follows its previous release schedule, anewAnimal Crossingcould be on the wayin 2028. Previous versions of the game could also come to GameCube Classics down the line if the feature performs well, especially if fan demand remains high.
It’s not unreasonable to think that Nintendo has anotherAnimal Crossinggame in development that it chose not to feature during its recent livestreams for fear of over-saturating its own market.Animal Crossing’s popularity won Nintendo lots of attention and brought in no shortage of sales, so despite the disappointing lack of announcements, there’s no need for fans to panic. In the meantime, fans have to continue tending to their islands and making good use of the creativityAnimal Crossingprovides its players.
