Nintendo Clamps Down On The Sale Of Characters And Items In Animal Crossing: New Horizons For Real Money

Raymond is likely at the core of most of this. Which is something I've never understood. What makes him so great when there are loads of other Villagers with the same personality? He's overrated and unlike someone like Ankha, his design is bland. People are wasting their time and money.

Maybe they should just create an auction house to be used with nook miles?

Selling in-game items to eachother for real money has been a thing for decades, but this is the first time I hear a developer state outright that it breaks TOS.

Refreshing.
Usually devs try to get in on the deals and shave off some cents.

While I do applaud Nintendo's desire to crack down on this, they clearly made a game that encourages it, and the trading has been going on since launch. And it's unlikely they can do much about it within the frame of the law in Japan.

@JR150 they're horny for Raymond, we all know it.

@neufel
I guess? I don't really see how since he doesn't have any features that help him stand out aside from having eyes that are two different colors. Ankha at least has a distinct, colorful design that you can immediately resonate with because of her Egyptian inspiration. Raymond is just gray on gray so I don't quite get why he's such a big deal.

@KoopaTheQuick
Zeus almighty. That is next-level simping. I don't hate Raymond, though. But he's the type of character that represents everything wrong with Animal Crossing and other "waifu"-type games nowadays. Overrated, overpriced foolishness.

It'd be cool if they simply added an option to the game that let's you pick any villager you like for an amount of nook miles.

Watched a friend play this at the weekend she loved it but still didn’t click with me. She had blue roses which she said were rare but apart from a visual thing I didn’t get it. My suggestion to her was if there were several mini games you unlock so you can do something rather than collecting stuff. I am curious tho how does one sell something in the game to another x x x

@RupeeClock : I noticed that and it was profoundly irritating.

I did take solace in the fact that they were losing money (whatever little of it anyway) whenever I was bombarded with their incessant ads.

If anyone is interested, I'm selling Master Chief for Super Smash Bros.

@sanderev
This. I think it'd be fair for say, 50,000. So now you have a goal to work towards and limit to once per month.

If I could have an Ironwood Dresser crop up in the normal course of play soon that would help. Seems to be a hugely common bottleneck for unlocking other items.

It's an IP infringement plain and simple, trading of items is a different matter, but selling items for cash is not allowed, and just because Nintendo have turned a blind eye in the past does not make it correct.

A bigger issue is the amount of scammers on E-bay claiming to sell people items and bells, then not turning up with the said items, this is very bad publicity for Nintendo even though it's not them personally that are carrying out the transactions.

How they enforce this is the big question.

I don’t see what the problem is, why shouldn’t people be allowed to sell items? They’ve already paid to buy the game which gives them licence to use it.

I guess Nintendo can’t make any money themselves out of the sale of the items so they want to stop it. Flexing their greed again...

I take everything back that I've ever said about microtransactions, many gamers deserve them if they're willing to pay as much for an npc as they are a video game. In fact Nintendo should just sell the characters themselves then at least the people who did the work will make the money

@ukaskew yep and it's one of the reasons I stopped playing as I simply couldn't build anything I wanted to anyway day after day after day

@datamonkey,

Because the idea is not to sell the items you create using their software, regardless of owning the game or not, you would require permission from Nintendo to do so.

@JR150 because he's one of a handful of new villagers and his design hits all the right spots for a lot of fans. The personality bit means nothing because the number of personality types is absurdly low.

I guess raymond is in demand because hes in a small group of villagers that have no amiibo. I definitely would not pay for to have him. I could wait and find him on a mystery island sometime. Like the way i found sherb, another villager without an amiibo card.

I honestly don't see the problem. My mate used to sell the best weapons and armor in war craft, if your spending your time grinding for something so yih can sell it then I don't see the problem

@KoopaTheQuick F*QUACK*ing hell!

Good its only a matter of time.....

I still don't understand why people are willing to pay big money for a villager, when you can just buy some blank NFC cards, then but the data on them for pretty much all villagers, you just need an android phone.

Microtransactions are evil! Now excuse me while I purchase Raymond and Ankha for $50 each.

What's so great about Raymond anyway I've got him on my island. Hes fine but it's not like hes doing anything special

Nothing new here. I remember seeing copies of Pokemon with complete Pokedexes being sold on Ebay back in the day, cashing in on gullible parents who didn't realize someone was just hacking the game with action replay.

@Roibeard64
As another has mentioned, he's the only Smug cat. But I have Lopez (a Smug deer dude who I imagine with the voice of Antonio Banderas when he speaks), and he's awesome with an actually colorful looking design. Raymond is just gray with more gray so I just don't get what people see in him.

@JR150
"What makes him (Raymond) so great when there are loads of other Villagers with the same personality?"

Because Raymond is the most handsome Smug villager of all.
He has two tone eye color like Yuna FF X.
He wears formal wear suit.
He looks nerdy but so cute with his glasses.

@johnvboy
" Istill don't understand why people are willing to pay big money for a villager, when you can just buy some blank NFC cards, then but the data on them for pretty much all."

1. Some peoples have no idea how to use blank NFC cards.
2. Some peoples are not patient. They want ready to buy villagers.
3. Some peoples are opportunist. They will make money by offering something.

@Anti-Matter
I suppose but the first is simply an opinion.
As for the second, I don't get how having two different eye colors is an interesting design choice.

And I can simply buy a suit and glasses for anyone to wear. It's not exclusive to Raymond.

My point is that I feel he's overrated is all. But if you like him, that's fine. XD

@Anti-Matter,

I agree with you on the customer end, but it's still wrong to use this software as a business.

@RupeeClock,

Of course they will, I was not condoning the practice as it's piracy at the end of the day, but if somebody is willing to buy a villager off E-bay then they might as well do this, do agree totally that some villagers are very rare, but then again considering how many there are, then factor in you can only have ten of them on your Island, the whole issue becomes moot.

@RupeeClock ah well there you go then. The perfect storm for a breakout new character. A unique animal + personality type, one of a small pool of new ones and a design that resonated with many

Pretty sure I saw those adverts in this site just last week lol

@Bliquid,

No you wouldn't, but it's not the same thing, simply because the car you have bought does not create anything else under a licence.

If you want to use this as an example then you can sell the full car you have bought, just like you can sell the game itself from Nintendo.

Im selling some super rare Black bass and sea bass if anyones interested?
It's the most metal of all fish apparently.

Who cares about Fortnite?

@Dancampulung You do cause you bothered to mention it when the article only mentioned it once.
@JR150 I mean Raymond is the only smug cat and he’s the only character with heterochromia. He’s not exactly “bland”

I’ll never understand why people feel the need to spend tons just to get that one specific thing

May be hard for them legally to pursue EVERY circumstance if someone has that villager moving out and it’s legit while you are taking them from given island; same monetary exploit happening in trade feature of Pokémon S&S. I agree with some type of Auction House since the villagers Nintendo created suggest us use already-learned DIY recipes in a way we can’t do, or allow us to have more online play so we can send mail with attachment to a person we have visited with already irl for equal beneficial trades.

@JR150 People are just meming way too hard, to the point where their judgment is being impacted.

@JR150 Raymond has no card, there is no way to get him unless you're extremely lucky or hack the game.

@Bliquid,

You can physically sell part of the game, you could just sell someone the cartridge, or as some do on e-bay the box.

But anything you create digitally in the game is subject to Nintendo's licencing agreement, and they have control over it, they would not be stating they will be stopping people doing it if they had no legal entitlement to do so.

Weather we agree with this or not is irrelevant to the legal implications.

@Bliquid,

As for you calculator argument it's not the same thing, as a company can't licence of copyright individual numbers, that can be created on any calculator.

Pretty distasteful to use a pun like ‘Animal trafficking’, when the actual practice causes so much pain and suffering to living creatures.

Tone deaf and ignorant.

@HappyMaskedGuy,

Well anybody should be able to tell the difference between the act of real life animal trafficking, and selling virtual animals on a video game.

So don't agree with you on that one.

@JayJ can imagine PETA response already, "Nintendo allows sale of rare animals"

@Bryzak,

Or not allowing it as the case may be.

@carlos82 just join a group on Facebook and get stuff that way, loads of people willing to trade in game.

Nintendo should just release amiibo cards for the new villagers. I would love to tear Raymond's card in half just to spite the people who treat him as some sort of trophy.

@sanderev they’re called amiibo cards.

@Kalmaro got him twice. Once on each of my saves. Lol. I don’t even like him. He is so annoying.

@johnvboy The issue isn’t whether there’s a difference. Obviously this isn’t actual animal trafficking. I never said that.

The issue is referencing a horrific, illegal practice that causes untold suffering to millions of living creatures, for the sake of a crappy pun.

As I said— distasteful.

@JR150 I like the character, I like his design and he's basically an alternative universe Bob.

Is he worth spending more than $20 on? No, until he gets his own amiibo. I didn't even know that this was legal in countries outside of the U.S., but, here we are.

Considering all the dodginess that accompanies selling digital items in CS:GO and Fortnite over the years, I think this is a good decision. It’s not really worth the hassle.

If somone is willing to part with their own money for a villager, I really don't care. Saw Raymond going for $100 on ebay PLUS charging $20 for shipping. I followed the listing and it had 3 bids on it on the final day, with an account with zero feedback being the only bidder, which makes me think the seller was trying to fake interest in it.

Anyway, I honestly do not see the appeal of a lot of these popular villagers (personally). After a villager left I challenged myself to get a non-amiibo villager within 25 nmt and got Audie on 24. Had her move in, then move out right away. Gave her away for 10 pears.
Because a deal for her fell through, I offered the person who originally wanted her any choice of an amiibo villager (since I use nfc stickers now). He wanted Marshal. So I've had Marshal for the past 3 days while he waits for a villager to leave and I don't get it. He is utterly basic and boring, and I hate saying that as I love squirrels.

Btw, if you like Marshal, Raymond or any of the popular ones. I'm happy for you and hope you enjoy them or get them in the future. Just saying I don't get the appeal of them one bit, especially to the point of paying real world money.

@johnvboy I do agree nfc stickers are the best way to get the villagers you want (wish I knew about them before buying a bunch of amiibos). However, Raymond, Audie and that sparkly eyed cub don't have their own amiibos yet, so you can't get them through tagmo

Why does Nintendo care? Who is this hurting?

@mantez There are 2 problems with amiibo cards:

1. They aren't produced anymore.
2. You can't get them for all the villagers.

Sure you can make illegal Amiibo stickers / tags but to me that's just as illegal as selling villagers on the internet.

@JR150 no Raymond is not the reason for any of this as he doesn't have an AMIIBO. So he can't be traded via cards or NFC. 😉

@squirrbil,

Speaking of Audie, she turned up at out campsite on Saturday and my daughter got very excited, I never knew she was that rare, it took a while and a few guesses, but she has now moved in.

@DrDaisy,

They just do not wan't the bad publicity from the dodgy folk on flea- bay.

@sanderev they were just re released in Japan. I can see a re release in the west.
It has been known for a long time that this game would support amiibos. Months ago they were going for small amounts and only The 8 new villagers haven’t got amiibo yet. Possibly will eventually though.

Just a reminder that Terms of Service (EULA) can say whatever they want, but do not take precedence over law. They might not like people selling things for actual money, but it doesn't break any law.

I don't know what is nice about Raymond. I did at one time want to hunt for him cos he looks cute when he sing. I have Punchy (from amiibo card ) on my first game before I reset, he is just ok. Lolly and Marina is sweet, but that is it. Rudy (starter villager on second gameplay) is super cute. I do find Broccolo (mouse), Graham and Hamlet way cuter. Also (first gameplay) Poncho (second gameplay ) Pekoe both are sweet and caring. I don't really care for frog villager, but Croque is nice. Sisterly villager, I like Agnes more than Diva and Phoebe.

I join fandom discussion and see every hours/mins/days people willing to buy ( not with real money ) villagers/woods/furniture ( I get the color you want that are different from the color in their nook store) /even DIY. Seriously, it's not hard to get those whether one TT or not.
It is really not hard to get wood and stone.

I am one who will not spend bells/NT let alone real money on virtual thing in a game.

I knew I shouldn't have put that bid in for the ebay auction that listed "100% legitimate, not fake, ACNH bells. Definitely legit. Yes, yes."

Nintendo forbid everything to everyone and sometimes it’s really annoying.

They need to take a look at the supposed “Landscaper” (briclyn forest) who charges 400$ for landscaping a Island on animal crossing (and also requires the person to send her their switch). This is so wrong on so many levels and I think she should be banned for this. (And other behaviour, I.e. hacking).

@Pod why? Who cares if people want to exchange real money? I think its silly but why bother other people who like doing it?

Oh just let people spend their money on stupid things. How does this affect anyone but the people making the exchanges.

The best way to fix this would be to re-wave the previous AC amiibo cards and make a 5th Series for the new characters. There, done.

Wow, this is actually really stupid. People have been paying for third party services for things in game since Pokemon SwSh Genning services, and they didn't do much about that. But now Nintendo is mad because other people are paying money to make their islands cute and houses cute, and to have their favorite villagers? Yeah okay... Sounds like a meme.

Bob >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Raymond

This is a fact.

@stevenw45 Why in any universe would the game get “shut down”?

@JayJ There actually are sites like that where you can get villagers for NMT or bells.

thank you nintendo so much for finally doing this now -seriously, it was getting so disturbing and bad :/

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/497855501275627545/722323169595359332/20200616_013158.jpg lol

@HauntedbyWater
Because it sets an elitist example of how to acquire game items that quickly permeates the broader understanding.
Because effectively you're trading goods, and we have laws regarding that.
Because effectively you're trading IP-bound goods owned by Nintendo, and we also have laws regarding that.

But that's if I'd want to be dramatic about it. Nintendo made a game that almost begs for it to happen, and they're not likely to be capable of doing all that much about it.

@HappyMaskedGuy,

I never said that either, I was just stating the offence taken will differ from person to person, what pun would be o.k though?.

It’s that damn Carole Baskin!

It would be nice if Nintendo actually sold the Amiibo cards. They should have had the cards available at launch, and have a new series for the new villagers... Nintendo would have made bank and the fans would be happy. Such a missed opportunity! Why's Nintendo sleeping on this?

Good riddance. These guys really ruined the game. Only items, bells and tickets should be traded, not real money.

@JR150 People force him to wear a dress. I don't like it when boys go around dressed as girls. If you're not gonna act your gender, you might as well transition.

@Boo-Thang Covid. They don't have access to the facility. I am sure they originally planned for there to be new amiibo cards, but then things took a turn for the worse.

@JR150 is a cat with the snobbish personality, the first cat with this personality in the game

@DrDaisy The scumbags at Nintendo only care because they aren't making any money off the sales. I'll sell whatever I want in MY game that I purchased and theirs not a damn thing anyone can do about it.