Animal Crossing New Horizons' Downward Spiral Will Get Worse
We’re over a year into life with Animal Crossing New Horizons and the content has been stale for a while now. Players are understandably frustrated with Nintendo. Nintendo Switch consoles aren’t cheap, then add the cost of the game and a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, and the prices really add up. The Amalgia LLC Youtube videos have received numerous comments with players venting their frustrations at how much Nintendo expects them to pay for content, but the situation will only get worse going forward.
Nintendo is raking in the cash from ACNH and Swtich sales, while also basking in the critical acclaim New Horizons has received. However, Nintendo does not care about the players these days and we’ve seen this situation before in other games. A wise capitalist should understand that expending additional resources (albeit in a targeted, cost-efficient way) to keep the large player base of Animal Crossing happy would produce gains far beyond short-term, near-sighted cost cutting measures. However, Nintendo’s business model no longer puts players first, and it’s been this way a long time.
Instead of trying to actively grow the ACNH player base even more, Nintendo will do nothing for now and conserve their resources. Having a big success is good enough for Nintendo, they don’t have the will or dedication to their players to keep the fun going for free. From watching other highly successful games Nintendo had a part in, like Pokemon Go or Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, for example, Nintendo intends to let the game stagnate until only the hardcore players are left, then bleed their wallets with more paid content and items than they can stomach. The even more troubling question becomes, will Nintendo stoop to implementing gambling gacha reward systems into New Horizons, even though it’s a game people paid for? The answer remains unclear, but it is a very real possibility.
The way the gaming industry cultivates addiction and impulse buying in kids is really sickening, and gacha systems are gambling without any of the regulation or age restrictions. Don’t get me wrong, Nintendo will probably release paid updates that do not have gacha elements in them, at first anyway. Much of what they do is intended to figure out how far they can push players before the will break, then release just enough to do the least amount of work while making the most amount of money. It’s a really sad mindset.
The other major problem with Animal Crossing New Horizons is that Animal Crossing New Leaf had many amazing functions and events Nintendo purposely locked out of the current game. For those who didn’t play New Leaf, some of the functions that have been specifically kept out of New Horizons include:
There was a systems of programming constellation art in the sky;
gyroid collection;
fossil miniatures for every fossil set;
a coffee house;
a shop for Kicks;
a shop for Labelle (the eldest of the Able Sisters);
more options for custom designs;
an island full of multiplayer games for you and your friends;
a way to mine rare gem stones (still hitting rocks with shovels though);
a way to customize regular furniture sets with rare gems (like a ruby encrusted modern set, for example);
more tiers of the Nooklings shop (all the way up to the very fancy Nookingtons)
and more.
Nintendo is specifically keeping these things held back, so they can charge for many of them at a later date. It really makes no sense for the new game in a series to have less functions than its predecessor, until you realize Nintendo is trying to profit from past work at the present player’s expense.
The Nintendo from days long since past had the potential to create value and add artistry to the video game medium, but I believe if we see new artful moments, it will be more of a happy accident than Nintendo’s actual intent. Paid content is coming for Animal Crossing New Horizons, and that isn’t inherently a bad thing. I just fear the way they will go about will drive more players away than it will bring in, and I really do wish the Animal Crossing franchise will continue to thrive.
Author username: Noah Ulaine
Photo source: Nintendo