Animal Crossing New Horizons has been on the Nintendo Switch for over two months now and continues to be a best-selling title. The game at last count has sold about 12 million units and as such is one of the best launches the Switch has ever had. While the game isn’t perfect (especially with the online components), many fans have praised what the game is and how it’s grown after what New Leaf did on the 3DS.
The team is also impressed with Animal Crossing New Horizons, and in an interview notes that they see this more than as the “next title”, but the beginning of the “third-generation” of the Animal Crossing franchise as a whole. Director Aya Kyogoku noted:
The first Animal Crossing had no online play features – it was created under the premise that players could communicate in an asynchronous manner without an internet connection.
Online functions were added in Animal Crossing: City Folk and it was possible to play together even with people living in different places.
In New Horizons, due to the fact that you start by not having a normal town, there are a lot of changes even if you play alone. We also added a mode called ‘Party Play’ where you can play with people living on the same island simultaneously instead of doing it asynchronously like before.
Producer Hisashi Nogami added to this, saying:
“The fundamentals haven’t changed, but we have included various elements – for example, online connectivity – in response to the changing times. In New Horizons, we’ve added changes to increase the depth of these elements even more.”
Players are indeed grateful for these added elements, and the online play. And many are already eager to see what the Animal Crossing team brings to the fold the next time around, no matter where it may be at or what console it is on.