Animal Crossing: New Horizonsreleased in the midst of a global pandemic, which saw a record-breaking 11 million people playing in the first two months. While the game is still popular among fans, someAnimal Crossingplayers have managed tohit the maximum cap for goals like Nook Miles, finished or restarted their islands several times, and fully completed their Critterpedias.
It is apparent that not as many players are flocking toAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsas they once did, likely due to the last free update, Version 2.0, coming out in November 2021. The $25Happy Home ParadiseDLC released at the same time, giving players who enjoyed creative aspects of the game more to design. However, as bothHappy Home Paradiseand Version 2.0 are coming up on their one-year anniversary, many are already wondering when the next installment to the franchise will be released.
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The Next Animal Crossing Has a High Bar to Clear
It’s likely that the nextAnimal Crossingwouldn’t release until 2024 at the earliest, as in the past launches for each new entry were spaced out about every four years or so. However, a newAnimal Crossinggame could also be planned to release later on whenthe next Nintendo console, a follow-up to the Switch, hits the market.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsmarked the beginning of the fourth generation ofAnimal Crossinggames, with full exterior decoration. The nextAnimal Crossinggame could see an entirely new environment for the beloved villagers to reside in, or it could bea direct sequel toAnimal Crossing’s abandoned island getaway concept. Either way, following up the incredible success thatAnimal Crossing: New Horizonssaw may not be an easy task.
The 2020 game did extremely well due to a variety of factors, many of which won’t be available for Nintendo’s next simulation game.Animal Crossing: New Horizonswas the first to exclusively release on Switch, which allowed players to utilize on-the-go gameplay or their living room ecosystem. Fans were able to continue completing daily tasks when traveling, and bring their island paradise to life on the big screen. The game also introduced terraforming, which meantAnimal Crossingusers could manipulate the landscape however they pleased. Deeper interactivity was also available, such as through the NookPhone which contains many helpful apps.
However, the most important detail aboutAnimal Crossing: New Horizons’success has to be the perfect timing at which it launched. As the world went into lockdown, there wasn’t much for many people to do except pick up video games to pass time in quarantine, which droveAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsto second place in Nintendo’s best-selling games listas of this writing. The cute and colorful animal village game was a perfect fit for those looking to destress, people looking for a new game to learn, and nostalgic fans alike.
The next title to join theAnimal Crossingseries won’t have the luxury of being the first to come out on Switch console, nor will it release during at the start of a pandemic (hopefully). Nintendo could potentially bring new elements to the game, though it has been argued by fans that too many drastic changes might make the game not feel as laid-back and casual as the others. Perhaps in the way thatPaper Mariois still a Mario title, this next game could have roots inAnimal Crossingbut also have an entirely different genre style. Only time will tell, andNintendo is working on several promising releasesin the meantime.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis available now on Nintendo Switch.
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