How a Virus Contributed to a Video Game Opening

Animal Crossing is a series that I have seen many friends and people around me play for a majority of my life, but I myself never tried it. That is, until a couple days ago. My Twitter feed was exploding with people posting their creations and the game-play of the newest installment, New Horizons, and eventually it just wore me down. I’ll say, I’m enjoying it though. But how big of a success will it be?

Short prediction: very. Everything had been working for Nintendo on this release, for better or for worse. Not only has this been a highly anticipated game for years, prior to its announcement it was a center for memes asking when there would finally be a new installment. If that wasn’t enough, the game industry lucked out with the current situation.

While most businesses have suffered from coronavirus, gaming and online industries have thrived. Now people are stuck in their homes, can’t travel, and need to find new avenues to communicate with others and kill time. And the game releasing right as all the borders closed, curfews began and public spaces shut down? Now everyone has to see it online, and they have the time to sit at home and play for hours on end without a care in the world. The only major issue now for Switch owners is if they have the money to cough up on a new game; and people are more likely to impulse buy if they can’t get online to talk with their friends without seeing ads and posts plastered all over social media.

In short, everything fell in place perfectly for this game to be a hit. But, whether it will be or not, it’s still to early to tell.