On August 19, 2024, Nintendo made an official announcement that they would be ending service for the mobile game Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp on November 29, 2024.
While the game company has plans to develop a “flat-fee offline” version of the game that players can transfer their data to and continue playing, diehard Animal Crossing fans are devastated by the announcement, feeling as though Nintendo simply doesn’t care about the franchise.
Animal Crossing Is a Beloved Franchise With a Long History
Animal Crossing is a social sim that originally launched in Japan in 2001, and rapidly became a hit with audiences around the world. The games are typically laid-back, and put an emphasis on players slowly building up friendships with the animal villagers that surround them while decorating and renovating the world around them.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp launched in November 2017 as a free-to-play game on mobile devices that tasked players with with renovating and decorating a campsite to attract visitors by providing eccentric amenities and other types of decor. As is typical with mobile games, Pocket Camp has a premium currency called Leaf Tickets that would allow players access to even better collections, or allowing them to bypass time-consuming efforts to gather materials.
While it’s sad to see Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp become an offline experience, Nintendo has made some efforts to keep the franchise going, including a real-world aquarium experience touring the US later in 2024.
The news has understandably left the fandom feeling bitter, but all we can do is hope that Nintendo has a silver lining planned for Animal Crossing fans in the future.
Published: Aug 23, 2024 12:04 pm