How Nintendo can maintain Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ popularity

Now two months old, Animal Crossing: New Horizons remains one of the most played games. How can Nintendo keep the momentum going all year?

There is no denying that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a massive success for Nintendo. Even if the pandemic never happened, there’s a good chance it would have still been huge as people had pre-ordered this title en masse.

Recently it seems to still be holding some heavy traction which, for a casual game, is pretty impressive. Danny Trejo and Elijah Wood were talking to each other on a talk show recently about how much they play the game. Captain Marvel actress Bree Lawson constantly posts pictures of her town and character on Instagram. The trend has not died down — even two months after the game’s release.

And honestly, if Nintendo keeps at it, Animal Crossing: New Horizons can maintain it’s status for a very long time. They only have one thing standing in their way and that is Nintendo itself.

See, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the best additions to the series ever. The ability to customize your own island has resulted in beautiful creations. It’s a joy visiting other players because I never know what to expect.

Nintendo adds a slew of new, innovative features that make this game a joy. And a thing that can keep it going is Nintendo constantly delivering updates, even if small. So far, Nintendo has been doing well at this but have also failed at the same time.

More from App and Gaming News

• Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.1: Last major update released
• GTA 6: Who is Lucia and what is her role?
• Sonic Dream Team review: A welcome surprise to Apple Arcade
• Is GTA 6 coming to PC at launch in 2025?
• GTA 6 trailer arrives early, confirming 2025 release: Watch it here!

Having time-released events like Museum Day and May Day give you something to do if you’ve completed all there is or if you’re just struggling to find something new in the game. It makes the world fresh.

At the same time, most of the events, with the exception of May Day, have been a monumental failure. The Museum Day event can be knocked out in five minutes. Earth Day did precious little and was just an opportunity to show off their newest NPC despite the fact that Leif actually wasn’t tied to the events. And don’t even get me started on Bunny Day (again).

So what does Nintendo have to do to keep Animal Crossing: New Horizons the topic of gaming conversations? A lot is going to rest in June.

June is a wedding themed event that lasts all month. From what they’ve shown, you need to gather furniture and set up a wedding chapel before taking pictures of the bride and groom. As I’ve stated in the past, I feel like this sets the stage for features from the game Happy Home Academy where you can design rooms for other characters, something that would be an excellent addition. Or, it could just be you placing a couple of benches and snapping a picture. It’s yet to be seen.

But this is what Nintendo needs if it wants to keep Animal Crossing: New Horizons fresh. No more hit and miss events where you finish things in a few minutes; give us something to do.

The recent datamine shows a lot of potential for what could come. The cafe could give us Brewster and, in turn, bring back the minigame where you serve coffee for him. The fact that you will be able to grow and harvest vegetables could mean that there will be a restaurant or a cooking minigame. There’s a lot of things coming in the future that, depending on the love Nintendo gives to it, could either become a major boost to the game or yet another hurdle to jump for a couple of minutes.

Here’s hoping Nintendo realizes this soon because I love Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I would love it way more if there was some common sense shown to the game’s events.