If there is really a Direct in this month, then I think there are some chances that they at least saying
the title and showing a little bit of gameplay (and maybe the release date or something like "coming in
spring/sommer/fall/winter").
[RUMOUR] Animal Crossing Switch could be released as early as Q1/Q2
- Thread starter kappnfangirl
- Start date
the title and showing a little bit of gameplay (and maybe the release date or something like "coming in
spring/sommer/fall/winter").
Early 2019 makes a lot of sense to avoid competing with pokemon, as even if there's crossover with fire emblem players and animal crossing players, I think they're far enough removed whereas pokemon hits a lot of the same bases as animal crossing (collecting things as a central gameplay element)
I'll be super happy if it's march but not sure if my little heart can be so optimistic. I think if it comes out in march.... we need to start getting info in November/December or we might have a pokemon ultra sun/moon situation on our hands where the public just doesn't know what sets it apart from other games in the series
I'll be super happy if it's march but not sure if my little heart can be so optimistic. I think if it comes out in march.... we need to start getting info in November/December or we might have a pokemon ultra sun/moon situation on our hands where the public just doesn't know what sets it apart from other games in the series
I think an early 2019 release would be ideal for all of the mentioned reasons. I just have to imagine that they have definitely been working on this game for some time now, too.
It’d honestly just be, like, the perfect game for the summer when everyone is out of school, too.
It’d honestly just be, like, the perfect game for the summer when everyone is out of school, too.
Boccages
Senior Member
A small team might had been working on the skeleton of Animal Crossing Switch before spring 2016, but as work was winding down on Splatoon 2, some members of that team might have started to be reassigned to Animal Crossing Switch. That's my educated guess since the Splatoon team actually was made up from the Animal Crossing one.
So the jist of the work might have started a year and a half ago as people started building up on the concept a smaller team had been working on for some time now.
So the jist of the work might have started a year and a half ago as people started building up on the concept a smaller team had been working on for some time now.
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CoffeeAndCaramel973
Senior Member
I'm very happy there will finally be a new main AC game 
!!
True, AC:NL was (mostly) nice and new, with added features (become mayor, construct public works projects, swimming, and so on) but the game is old and aged now, and with the Nintendo Switch being a hybrid console/handheld it was (I think) only a matter of time before there would be a new mainstream AC game ^^
As myself being an older Animal Crossing player, I've known the days of the Gamecube as well, with the Animal Crossing title being released for the system. I still can remember the thrill, of playing the Animal Crossing for the first time I was young back then, but me and my (real life) neighbor friend would also play the game while visiting each others' home.
Now, it might be the case I'm a bit off-topic here; I am not sure of it though, I have returned to Tbt from a long break and am just really delighted there will be another AC mainstream game, so I had to share my thoughts
!!True, AC:NL was (mostly) nice and new, with added features (become mayor, construct public works projects, swimming, and so on) but the game is old and aged now, and with the Nintendo Switch being a hybrid console/handheld it was (I think) only a matter of time before there would be a new mainstream AC game ^^
As myself being an older Animal Crossing player, I've known the days of the Gamecube as well, with the Animal Crossing title being released for the system. I still can remember the thrill, of playing the Animal Crossing for the first time
I was young back then, but me and my (real life) neighbor friend would also play the game while visiting each others' home.Now, it might be the case I'm a bit off-topic here; I am not sure of it though, I have returned to Tbt from a long break and am just really delighted there will be another AC mainstream game, so I had to share my thoughts
WeiMoote
Artist of Cute Stuff
I agree; January is pretty much a bad month to release AC. Or any game, really. Cause you just got past the Holiday season and you may still be into the games you got for Christmas/Hanukkah. That, and school starts to get really in gear, or there's Winter Exams then. That, and some holidays aren't really celebrated as days off, so sales aren't that high then.
Around March/April, is still around the Q1 threshold, cause you have Spring Break and Easter to lounge around and play games. It also comes with a bit of a drawback... Finals. Yeah, while it may not affect some of us, around the latter bit of April into early May, is when Exams truly start to kick in, and nobody may even have the time to buy a new game at the time.
Soooo... I bet Q2 would be our best bet for if this rumor is true or not. Everyone's out of school, and generally, game sales are pretty high around then.
I am probably not accurate on this, but I did try to give it my best shot.
Only about 10% of the AC team worked on Splatoon, and 30% on Splatoon 2
HopeForHyrule
Bunny Fanatic
With Nintendo making the Switch region-free, I'd say a worldwide release is definitely plausible.
Blue Cup
Walking the Four Seasons
As I said in another thread, E3 isn't the be-all, end-all for Nintendo announcements these days. That is what they have Directs for now and roughly 97% of their biggest announcements occur outside of E3.
They have a road map for the Switch, and it clearly did not call for an Animal Crossing announcement in June.
I honestly would not be surprised if we don't hear from the game again until next E3. Right now they have Smash, Let's Go, Fire Emblem, Yoshi and Deus X Machina to hype up between now and E3 2019. They sown the seeds of hype, but the germination period could be longer than most are hoping for.
Blue Cup
Walking the Four Seasons
Quite the opposite actually. January and February are the new October and November. A ton of developers now opt to release their major titles at the beginning of the year now as there is less competition and it has been doing wonders for them.
That said, Animal Crossing won't be one of them. Nintendo will need something big for the summer period, and that is where Animal Crossing thrives, in-game and out.
Personally speaking, I feel it's a September/October game. But I want to be wrong.
Just because they had five years to develop it doesn't mean they spent that time doing so. Nintendo started going through a company-wide restructuring, and with the Switch in development teams weren't immediately set to work.
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Paperboy012305
Maining Male Villager since 2015
I feel like they started development after the release of Pocket Camp. And announced it in September when they got things up to snuff. It’s also viable that they started development when they announced it.
If they developed it after the release of Pocket Camp. Except the release date in Summer.
But if they started development when they announced it, except it to release in Q4 or delays. But Nintendo knows that they didn’t like the wait for the New Leaf release that fans got mad over, so I think they learned their lesson with a technique that even we fans couldn’t figure out.
Who knows, it’s gotta be either June/December of 2019 when the game will be released. When people say “Sooner than you think”, they don’t mean a spring release. But that’s just my guess.
If they developed it after the release of Pocket Camp. Except the release date in Summer.
But if they started development when they announced it, except it to release in Q4 or delays. But Nintendo knows that they didn’t like the wait for the New Leaf release that fans got mad over, so I think they learned their lesson with a technique that even we fans couldn’t figure out.
Who knows, it’s gotta be either June/December of 2019 when the game will be released. When people say “Sooner than you think”, they don’t mean a spring release. But that’s just my guess.
Blue Cup
Walking the Four Seasons
I'd assume that it began development before Pocket Camp. Nintendo doesn't personally develop any of the mobile games so they won't hinder development of internal projects in any way.
On the contrary, they may even be beneficial as far as games like Animal Crossing goes. I'd imagine a lot of the features that NDCube implemented in Pocket Camp are being used as testing grounds for potential features in AC2019. Nintendo looks at fan reaction and makes decisions/changes based on those.
And let's be honest here: As uninteresting Pocket Camp and mobile gaming as a whole are, there are some ideas in PC that absolutely need to be implemented into New Leafs follow up or else it'll seem like a regression rather than the (at least I hope) progression the series Nintendo wants to make. Photo mode is an absolute must in a game like Animal Crossing, and if that is absent from AC19, then yikes.
On the contrary, they may even be beneficial as far as games like Animal Crossing goes. I'd imagine a lot of the features that NDCube implemented in Pocket Camp are being used as testing grounds for potential features in AC2019. Nintendo looks at fan reaction and makes decisions/changes based on those.
And let's be honest here: As uninteresting Pocket Camp and mobile gaming as a whole are, there are some ideas in PC that absolutely need to be implemented into New Leafs follow up or else it'll seem like a regression rather than the (at least I hope) progression the series Nintendo wants to make. Photo mode is an absolute must in a game like Animal Crossing, and if that is absent from AC19, then yikes.
That's not how video game development works at all. No way had the game just started development when the direct aired. To put it into perspective, New Leaf and City Folk were both in development for 3+ years at a minimum. Pocket Camp also has very little to do with the development of this title, it was co-developed by ND Cube and not Nintendo alone.
Whether the game started development before/after Pocket Camp is hard to say. Pocket Camp got pushed back so many times, and was originally meant to be a town builder game before it was scrapped and they started again. If I took a guess I'd say they were both in development at the same time - Nintendo said the AC mobile app would connect with dedicated gaming systems, yet it has no functionality yet. We do know from the date in the Welcome amiibo update that they planned on making a mobile phone item, which would presumably have some tie-in with Pocket Camp. Since this item doesn't exist in NL outside of a text string, it's likely they decided to delay it for the next title. The AC mobile app was first announced early 2016 and was meant to release later that year. Welcome amiibo was announced in July 2016 and released November 2016 (which is when I assume the mobile app was slated to release alongside), so if you join all the dots I'd say the game has been in development since at least early 2016. That'll be 3 years when it releases next year, which is on-par with the past titles.
There's also the inevitable question of whether this title was originally planned for the Wii U but was then pushed back. We simply don't know enough about the game to give a proper idea on the development cycle just yet, or even a release window other than 2019.
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