Did Pocket Camp help or hurt Animal Crossing's popularity?

[jiojiop]

No doubt Pocket Camp reached a whole new audience of people who had never played Animal Crossing, yet its gameplay is very different from the mainline games. Additionally, it's faced some criticism from players over things like shallow gameplay, gacha game (plus asking for subs!) monetization, microtransactions, etc. Still, it's quite popular.

So even though it might have introduced a new audience to the series and increased familiarity with the franchise name, possibly those new people have different expectations of gameplay, or maybe it turned off some people.

Do you think that overall, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will help or hurt Animal Crossing: New Horizons' sales?

 

[Xara]

i think it would help? i mean, it’s been made clear time and time again that pocket camp is not one of the main games in the series so therefore it has limitations; but i feel like it’ll help for those who are new to animal crossing and liked pocket camp as they’ll know new horizons and the other mainline games will be more developed and have more features

 

[Antonio]

Who knows tbh, there are no studies or articles backing it up. I say, we wait a few months after new horizons released and do sale compares with nl to see if it had an impact.

 

[John Wick]

It probably helped, but I think at the same time it might have given the wrong impression of AC mainline games.

AC is a relaxing game, and PC is literally supply and demand.
I felt frazzled after completing order after order.

I hope those who have only played PC get to experience the 'at your own pace' style of play that core AC games have.

 

[moo-kun]

To me, PC wasn't about being a mobile game.
It was about advertising the AC titles and characters.

It was also a way to share pictures with your friends and on social media.
I don't use social media a lot, but I do like to post the odd piccy that came out really lovely and share it!
Some people are just awesome at making beautiful scenes, that I fall in love with AC all over again!

So although I don't like the money aspect of PC, I love the little charms of getting a valentines gift from my husbando Bam and having cute little moments that I can capture in it. I can't actually play it anymore
because it's a huge drain on my battery (๑>n<๑)

 

[cicely]

Hmm, I guessed it didn't affect sales but who knows! I never saw any PC players who weren't already interested in AC.

But I get the impression PC has a more active and enthusiastic fanbase in Japan, from what I've seen on twitter and blogs. Maybe there are more people whose first impression was PC?

 

[skeletontape]

Pocket Camp is what introduced me to Animal Crossing, hahaha.

I'd heard of Animal Crossing before that, but I never played it. My partner is the one who told me to download ACPC and try it out, because his friends were excited about it (he's a big gamer but AC isn't his speed.) And I loved it, at first! It was so charming. I played it for over a year, since its launch. Eventually I quit Pocket Camp because the mobile gaming nonsense just became too much, and my partner got me New Leaf as a surprise gift.

So yeah, Pocket Camp blows but it's definitely introduced new people to the franchise. I'm proof! I'm so excited for New Horizons.

 

[Shellzilla_515]

Personally, I thought that there was a balance in terms of Pocket Camp making Animal Crossing popular. It definitely introduced people to the series but at the same time, I felt the way the game that was handled later on either tainted the image of the series or didn't give a good impression to the newcomers because of that.

 

[Ossiran]

I don't think PC helped or hurt it all, to be honest. It was a mobile Animal Crossing, and people wanted a full console/handheld game.

 

[Peeps]

My friend is buying her first console because of Pocket Camp. $500 for one game! She never put money into PC but loves decorating her campsite, I sent her some clips of New Leaf which cemented her decision.

 

[kemdi]

I dislike Pocket Camp, but I can be honest and admit that it probably raised Animal Crossing's profile a bit, especially for people that never heard of the series. A friend of mine adores Pocket Camp. I told her about New Leaf, and how the series was much more in-depth and expansive, and she went out and got a used 3ds and now plays New Leaf and loves it. She plans on getting New Horizons too.

 

[Ama]

In a weird way I think it helped, because it make die-hard AC fans want a main game even more.
I think it pulled in new people as well, but it just maskes me sad to think that PC was many people' first experience with the series...

 

[SheepMareep]

A lot of people were introduced to animal crossing through pocket camp. I have friends who never played it prior and are now going to be buying new horizons!

 

[rezberri]

i feel like pocket camp has helped bring more people into the series. phone games are definitely a more accessible form of gaming, which is apparent with animal crossing pocket camp; you don't have to purchase a new console to play it and can instead use an everyday device. many people who have only played pocket camp go on to buy, research, or watch videos of people playing past games and that's really cool!!

 

[DrewAC]

It definitely helped. Apple, specifically, has featured Pocket Camp on the front page of its App Store countless times.

At end of the day, the reason why Animal Crossing is on mobile is for exposure, and that's certainly what they've got.

 

[toadsworthy]

Let's be real, amiibo festival probably affected any AC sales more than pocket camp. I think any AC title will attract most fans, and a mobile AC experience in any form was gonna be cool because the concept lends itself to the series. I feel like a lot of the people here seem very invested in it, although I never got involved. I was going to be pissed if NH was affected by PC work......

Thankfully it isn't and I didn't need to start a stupid pocket camp thing these past months to make myself feel better

 

[John Wick]

I know I played PC over the past couple of months, but it wasn't to feel better.
Boredom was one reason.

I at least got to familiarise myself with crafting, it being part of NH, and I got a look at some possible item additions as well.

 

[oath2order]

At most it probably built the hype

 

[Romaki]

I genuinely don't think it affected it. The series is a household name that has seen worse spinoff titles, but they're completely forgotten as soon as the new main title comes out. As for the fandom, I think this forum alone proves it can survive on its own.

 

[Speeny]

I don't really think it affected things either way.

I myself put down Pocket Camp within the first hour of playing it though, lol.