Nintendo Abandoned Animal Crossing: New Horizons

After releasing their big update and DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons in November 2021, Nintendo announced that there would be no more for the game. While many were upset, I figured the reason why was because they wanted to focus on the sequel to the game, and I expected news regarding it to come soon. Three years later, we received nothing about a sequel. They have simply abandoned New Horizons, and they did it way too soon.

With no updates, it has become harder to go on my island and do my island representative duties; I have essentially abandoned them. I only recently returned to celebrate Toy Day, Animal Crossing's version of Christmas. Revisiting the island reminded me how much I love the game and how it's both relaxing and stressful. Doing tasks to earn Nook Miles, talking to my adorable villagers, and enjoying the island lifestyle. It's disappointing because there was potential to keep adding updates to the game, such as new events, recipes, furniture, etc. Instead, the same content keeps getting recycled each year.

Perhaps the biggest reason why it feels that New Horizons was abandoned is an aftereffect of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it was released at the start of it. Many turned to the game in order to cope with the lockdowns and the overall stress that came with the pandemic. That’s one of the reasons why the game is listed as the second best-selling game on the Switch, selling an estimated 46 million copies worldwide. Because everyone was playing immediately after its release, it became much quicker for people to become tired of it since there wasn't much to do during that time. I didn't start playing the game until several months later, so it took me much longer for the burnout to come.

Maybe this was always the plan for the game—to have one big update and DLC and then move on to the next entry. Or perhaps the creators themselves just needed a break from New Horizons. Whatever the reasons, here's to hoping that with the Nintendo Switch successor to come out in 2025, four years after the last update and five years after the game’s release, that the announcement of a sequel is not that far.

Happy Holidays! ❄️