Why is Animal Crossing so popular?

The game that caused an entire console to be out of stock.

To be super excited about something that isn’t released yet is a familiar feeling to everyone. And that hype train grows bigger and bigger as time goes on. However, this isn’t the only reason why Animal Crossing New Horizons was as popular as it was upon release.

We are all overly familiar with the current pandemic keeping us all at home. It’s been incredibly lonely, frustrating, and stressful. It’s during these times that we need something to keep our minds busy and off of the horrible things going on in the world.

Then, Animal Crossing: New Horizons released on March 20th. Around the same time, quarantine began. The timing was perfect. With the fans that had waited quite a while for the game to release, it was disappearing fast. This made it seem even more appealing to outsiders, meaning they had to buckle down and buy a Switch with the game before it was out of stock.

If you don’t know what Animal Crossing: New Horizons is, I’ll give you a rundown.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a new game in the Animal Crossing series, where you start anew in a random location and interact with your animal neighbors. This can vary from giving them gifts, doing favors for them, celebrating holidays with them, and more! In this installment, you buy an island getaway package and fly to an abandoned island along with a few other villagers. Since you were the first to purchase the package, they put you in charge of the island!

The game has a tropical and vibrant atmosphere, which heavily contrasts with our current world. Being able to interact with the other villagers can be a great cure for loneliness, and there is always a goal to work towards to keep you busy.

It is for this reason that the game was so appealing in this time of uncertainty and fear, for the comfort and relaxation the game brings.

But this was only the beginning. With everyone being trapped inside and the popularity the Nintendo Switch already had, now seemed like a great time to pick one up. But little did we know that everyone else was thinking the same thing.

It was only a matter of weeks until the Switch and game had gone out of stock everywhere. There were also people taking advantage of the situation and buying them in bulk so they could sell them for a much higher price later.
So, for months the Switch was gone. The only place you could buy one was online for $500 — $700 from a random person. Even now, finding a Switch in a store is rare.

So… why is Animal Crossing: New Horizons so popular? Because it’s a perfect getaway in this time of uncertainty. Not only that, but the sparsity of the game pressures people to buy the game before it’s gone, and because of COVID-19, Nintendo can’t meet the demand.

Anyways, I need to stop here. I still have to pay off my house mortgage to Nook… so… see ya… 😳

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