Animal Crossing: New Horizon has sold nearly 14 million copies since its release on March 20.
To say it is addictive would be an understatement. Since landing on our kids’s Switch console, Animal Crossing: New Horizon has swept everyone else. In the closet, the Pokemon. The highlight is Mario Kart. They only have it for these islands at the end of nowhere, where there is no question of competition or combat but, quite simply to create a pleasant environment, to meet friends, to accumulate “bells” – money, poetically renamed – in order to be able to take small planes to go to the neighboring archipelagos populated by friends or strangers. Here, we fish (a lot), we build our house – at the start, a tent -, we grow flowers, we catch insects and we try to collect all the species that we hang on our hunting board or that it is donated to the museum, then boasting a pretty plaque bearing the name of the donor.
The best of all worlds, Animal Crossing: New Horizon? In a paper published in The world, dated May 8, we speak of the “great game of containment”, as it will have been present during the pandemic. And as he will have gathered followers in record time. Released on March 20, the game sold 11.77 million copies in just twelve days. In six weeks, that figure rose to 13.41 million.
The confinement is there, of course, for something. When, outside, the universe seems hostile – approaching one’s fellows within three feet can be deadly, admit that there is something to have the petoche -, frolicking on a virtual island, indulging in tasks simple and being able to “check” his friends for something deeply reassuring. This explains why this new episode of Animal Crossing is so successful.
Born in Japan in 2001, this life simulation game did not reach us until 2004. The following year, Animal Crossing: Wild World was released on Nintendo DS and then on Wii U. In 2013, the Japanese giant passed at top speed by launching Animal Crossing: New Leaf. For the first time, players can step into the shoes of the village mayor. But it’s truly the latest evolution of the game, New Horizon, which won all the votes.
If it is intended for children, who can create their little avatar, it also surfs on the desire of the youngest to be in the wind: at the store, they can exchange bells for trendy clothes or designer furniture for their dwelling. Teens and adults having taken hold of it, we have also seen speculation entering this delicate world, with all the associated excesses.
Recently, speculation about turnips has been rife. We don’t remake “grown-ups”, even when they are virtual …
–
