i completely agree with this. at this point, the game has been out for almost 3 years. there's no doubt in my mind that everyone who's been playing since launch (or around that time) has gotten their fill of the game. also, it's just not fair to the developers to keep expecting more updates even after the 2.0 announcement. as you said, it's really just a matter of whether or not you want to play it. all that we can really hope for is the next game.
Nintendo just confirmed no more updates coming.
- Thread starter VanitasFan26
- Start date
I'd argue that the amiibo update for New Leaf was to increase profits of that game as well, both for the rebranded copies and so more people would buy the amiibo cards which were only compatible with Happy Home Designer at that point, iirc.
Also, they probably wouldn't have "ditched" this game if people didn't go online and harass the developers to make more updates to the game
No not the series, just the current game, I think. I just think its so strange they stop doing major support for such a popular game for not even up to two years, especially when they supported its predecessor for nearly 5 years after release. AC as a franchise is way too profitable and popular to just be shelved because of a few unfortunate hiccups! I think they might retool some of the marketing, but overall I don't think the AC series is going into any vault anytime soon.
JKDOS
Senior Member
As I recall, New Leaf wasn't really supported for 5 years. They released the game and then went silent for 3 years. They came back in 2016 and released Welcome Amiibo, which was more of move to push Amiibo sales, and potentially New 3DS systems for those who didn't want to buy an Amiibo scanner. The update was something like version v1.5, and then they dropped the game officially once and for all.
If I recall, Nintendo did not go silent with New Leaf after release. New Leaf got regular regional updates from Nintendo for years, right up until the WA update. For about a year after release New Leaf had the Nintendo Zone locations where you could get exclusive items, while Japan exclusively got the initial 7-eleven download set. And for a short time after New Leaf's release, Nintendo had at least one promotional contest for UK players where they could upload in-game screenshots to win exclusive prizes. I don't recall any worldwide promotions for New Leaf that were open to all players, but Celeste's zodiac series in NH started as a year long download in NL for all regions.
They don't have this kind of stuff for New Horizons(not that I'm complaining). NH, I think, got one gaming promotional contest after release. And while they do have other promotions for NH they're mostly 'lifestyle' and brand focused promotions, like the Build-a-bear, the ColourPop AC make-up collection, the Puma collab, the current Godiva chocolates, etc. Gaming-wise, like the title of this topic confirms, Nintendo was pretty much done with NH after the 2.0 update, much like they were with NL after the WA update. Seeing that NH has more 'lifestyle' collabs that gaming ones is one of the reasons I think they may be changing their marketing approach when it comes to AC.
I think there might be some confusion between updates (as we know them in New Horizons) and downloadable items from SpotPass/Nintendo Zone, because yes they had items you could download which were put out for a few years after New Leaf came out. imo, I wouldn't classify those as "updates" and would add that New Horizons also has seasonal item "updates" with the Nook Shopping things that they supported/added during the first two years of the game. And even better, these were not locked to your location so everyone was able to participate in the fun
McRibbie
Senior Member
the Nookipedia page for the AC:NH credits is missing the "additional staff for updates" section atm, so I've also checked that using the Kyoto Report website... and there's another 5 people on the list, bringing the grand total to 54
There was a lot of incomplete feelings for me when I first played NH. Replaying through it now, it feels a lot more complete and feels like a smoother experience that I can go slower in. Before, you would hit the credits alot quicker..
I do think because of all the hoopla with dream addresses and custom designs (clothing flags paving) that we may not see custom designs as we know them in the future.I'm not expecting any AC information in the Direct tbh. If anything, I'd be more surprised than disappointed if any AC information shows up than if it didn't.
And this is just my own speculative analysis: Mario Kart 8 is still getting updates, until the end of this year, while AC the second most popular game on the Switch had its last major update a year ago? One would think that with Nintendo they'd be promoting the mess out of the game that is the currently most popular game in Japan of all time, but...no. Even BotW is still getting a lot of love from Nintendo, and while I understand that it has a sequel coming out soon, the initial game came out in 2017. So why does it feel like Nintendo is distancing from Animal Crossing New Horizons, even though the game should still pretty hot with an active user base?
It seems like Nintendo is trying to take a step back and reevaluate how they handle the Animal Crossing IP and how the consumer base relates and interacts with it. If this is true, it's pretty understandable why it seems like they're sunsetting this game so early compared to others. I mean, given everything that took place over the last two years involving their Animal Crossing property, if this is what they're doing, it makes sense to me. This game struck lighting in a bottle, took the entire world by storm, and became a household property overnight, all because of events beyond Nintendo's control. It became a battleground at some point to where Nintendo had to bluntly and aggressively defend their Animal Crossing IP from being sucked into partisan politics and from having other corporations violating their IP( I think the current sitting US president still has an NH island? Not too sure). For 2020-2021, nearly every brand, product, and celebrity had an NH island promoting their merchandise or website in direct violation of Nintendo's TOA.
This game got banned in a few countries because some governments feared they wouldn't be able to monitor their citizens through it. One of the game's directors had to delete her social media accounts because of the overwhelming harassment she kept getting over this game, which from my understanding is a first for someone who works directly with Nintendo. And do I even need to mention the joke of an organization that is PETA? New Horizons (in a sense) with no prompting from Nintendo became the world's pseudo-social media site, and Nintendo fought that, hard. And while I understand that all of this happened because of the pandemic, the reality is that finding your child-and family-friendly IP in the middle of a lot of real world havoc is alarming. Fact is, aside from massive profits, this game brought a lot to Nintendo's doorstep, and not all of it was good.
Thankfully Nintendo didn't suffer too much from all that, at least not financially. But these types of events may have Nintendo stepping back to reevaluate the marketing of the series going forward, which from a consumer point of view, may look like they're pulling away support. Internally it may just be a redefinition of some parameters, with Nintendo trying to make sure they always come out on top when it comes to the handling of their IPs.
But who knows? Like I said, this is just my one person speculative analysis, I could be completely wrong. In any case, I'm just looking forward to the next game and hoping it comes sooner than later.
I think they very well could move away from free form drawing. Instead, I could see more style customization of buildings (logs vs tin or treehouse vs boathouse) or things like a coloring book for flags and clothing where you choose a style and tap for colors. Perhaps even crafting the dyes from flowers or berries if we get berry bushes.
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