Animal Crossing The Pandemic Context

 Pandemic, Protest and identity-

pandemic had huge economic impacts across many industries in the UK - catering and hospitality suffered the most

however the videogame industry experienced great success (gaming population increased 63% in COVID in the UK 2020)

2 statistics about this that surprised me the most were -

-18% of current gamers began in the pandemic

-13% of ex gamers returned during COVID

Nintendo stocks actually originally declined in 2019 due to ACNH delay in release however the game was so well made, it was very much worth the wait and its sales show that!

This delay was a risk as the delay was to ensure the game was perfect so if the quality on release wasn't up to consumers standards, it would be a further hit to Nintendo.

Reasons for ACNH success in lockdown - 

-boredom

-routine-structured set up of the game

-escapism-social simulation

-social-can interact with villagers or real people

-identity-through interactions, users can find things out about themselves

David Gauntlett-

 

Applications to ACNH- 

Instead of looking to influencers, the ACNH audience could explore how they interact and begin building up a personality through how they play the game. Furthermore being a part of a fanbase could introduce real human interaction.

Anthropomorphized villagers reduces gender pressures - furthermore the game has openly gay characters (Flick and CJ) - this made the game more appropriate for people to find their identity due to the lack of stereotypes or preferred meanings.

This inclusivity was further pushed by the actual audience- In COVID pride month was celebrated heavily in animal crossing as it was a platform that allowed individuals to do that.

There were also BLM protests on ACNH