Remember two, maybe three years ago when COVID-19 hit and Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out? Hah, what a fun and relatively recent time that was! It feels like only yesterd- wait, five years? New Horizons came out five years ago?? Oh my...
Yep, on 20th March 2020, Nintendo finally unleashed the latest entry in the Animal Crossing series on the world. The series had, historically, put up pretty decent sales numbers — both New Leaf and Wild World are in the top 10 best-selling titles for the 3DS and DS respectively — but New Horizons eclipsed all of that.
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A game about going outside and meeting your friends would have had a cute little hook at any time, but released at the start of a pesky little curio called a global pandemic, the interest jumped to another level. In its first six weeks, New Horizons had outsold every other entry in the series, and it has since gone on to shift a whopping 47.77 million copies — beaten only by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the list of Switch best-sellers.
You don't need us to remind you just how wild the world went (heh) for New Horizons at launch, but let's recap some of the craziest moments:
Just about every famous face you can think of got involved in the island adventure, including (and we're not joking here) Brie Larson, Elijah Wood, Stephen Fry and Sting. Heck, the Biden presidential campaign even opened an island of its own in 2020! What timeline were we living in??
Players around the world instantly put our humble design efforts to shame with recreations of global landmarks and every video game you can think of, from Stardew Valley to Resident Evil. And this popularity spun out into brand collaborations, with New Horizons popping up with Sanrio, Puma, Uniqlo and about a billion others.
Oh, and if you still need convincing of just how tight a grip the NH gang had us all in, Nintendo started releasing health messages via its characters — remember when Isabelle reminded us to stay hydrated during a heatwave? We do.
You might assume that such a big footprint would result in years of post-launch support, right? Hah. Good one. After some short-lived seasonal updates and the Happy Home Paradise DLC, Nintendo's been pretty silent on the whole affair. Sure, we've had plenty of LEGO sets, merch and a handful of special edition Switch designs, but new game content? No way.
Maybe it's all being saved for whatever the next entry brings. 40+ million sales don't go unnoticed and while it has been a while since most of us at Nintendo Life Towers have revisited our islands for a bit of much-needed weeding, we'd be very surprised if Switch 2 doesn't capitalise on the fame before long.
If, like us, it's been a while since you last visited New Horizons, perhaps today is the perfect time for it. Shake those bedheads into shape, crush those cockroaches and set about emptying a letterbox full of rotting cakes from Mum; we've got a birthday to celebrate.
Is Animal Crossing: New Horizons really five years old? (1,084 votes)
- Nope
- Definitely not
- It's a no from me
- No way
- It can't be
- ... Can someone please explain to Jim how time works
What are your top memories of Animal Crossing: New Horizons from the last five years? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 49
That's the worst part of being 30+ and having full time employment etc. The years goes by so fast that a 5-year period feels like 2 years...
The headline is a subtle reference to Doom Eternal also being 5 years old today.
Happy 5th Anniversary New Horizons (nice picture to celebrate it), while there are some aspects that could be better about it when it comes to other ones it was quite innovative and I've overall enjoyed it personally, too - looking forward to seeing what Nintendo has in store for the series on Switch 2!
Thank you so much for keeping my photos alive with this one Jim ☺
Doesn’t that mean doom eternal is as well? Still love that the internet paired doom guy up with Isabelle.
That’s so crazy to think about… I remember trying to get this launch day at nighttime at a ton of stores and it was sold out everywhere and having to settle with the digital version. I remember just how popular this was years ago and that meme pairing with this game and Doom Eternal haha. Good times! It’s a good game, and it was pretty innovative, but I didn’t play it much compared to New Leaf.
Idk why this feels so wrong lol
Ah, the game that saved Covid .......
I'd love to still play this game but I lost motivation when i tried to reshell my switch lite a couple years ago and broke the screen ribbon connector. Managed to save my pokemon saves blindly but haven't tried recovering my island or starting a new one. Maybe a project to try starting this afternoon?
Been a few years. Might have to dust off my island.
While it is definitely hard to believe it’s been five years already… The more difficult thing for me to wrap my head around is that the switch existed for a little over three years without the game. It’s one of my favorite games and I play it quite a bit (still checking in every other day or so). It really does feel like I’ve been playing it for the entire lifespan of the system, that’s why it’s so crazy to me at the game didn’t even exist until a little over a third of the way into the lifespan of the console.
It's a decent Animal Crossing game, even though I prefer New Leaf.
I fell off from it after a year or so when I sold my OG Switch to a friend and forgot to transfer my save to one of my other systems first 😑. Thanks for no cloud save, Nintendo.
The ACNH Switch system was so nice, I bought 3 of them.
Since Doom Eternal released the same day 5 years ago and Doom The Dark Ages is around the corner. I'd assume the next animal crossing can't be too far away, right?
Just picked this game back up. Don’t know why I ever left. But do not forget, the bunny draws near.
The cozy time waster that came when the world most needed cozy and had a lot of time to waste.
An incredibly cozy game with a phenomenal soundtrack (the best of the series imo).
Loved it
As we enter day 1,500 and counting of the year 2020 it's nice to know that it hasn't been all bad.
ACNH will forever be linked to covid. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing but it is a thing. I forgot about Doom, but not about AC or covid, for better and worse.
I think Switch 2 should be getting a new AC. Hopefully better. Camera control would be a nice start. Graphics were fine but a little more to do would be nice. I played it every day for a year but once the events started looping that was it. Which really is fine or $60, but it could have had more.
I'm currently playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure and while it's 80% AC I like the extra 20%. Floating with balloons. Jumping. Jumping should be a thing in every video game. The haunted house was fun. I've only been playing for a few days but it just seems more like I'm playing a game rather than just talking. ACNH did have the land creation, that was fun, but I'd be willing to give it up for jumping and cave exploring. Maybe it could be in the Swiss Alps or some such with tons of caves, lakes and zip lines. And some rudimentary skiing and snowboarding. Tobagonning. It that's a word. Do it Nintendo.⛰️🏔️🗻
"Heck, the Biden presidential campaign even opened an island of its own in 2020!"
Huh, that's neat to kno-
...
...waaaaaaait a minute. Did the Harris campaign ever open an ACNH island of their own last year?😳🤔
the definition of missed potential, such a disappointment of a game hopefully the next Animal Crossing isn't too far away and can blow ACNH out the water
Happy 5th to Animal Crossing: New Horizons… and DOOM Eternal.
In the words of thanos "impossible"
Enjoyed my time with the game, but aside from the new levels of customization and a few QoL changes, it really was just a boneless New Leaf. The holidays especially felt boring and meaningless compared to previous entries.
And a week later we were in lockdown
Bought the game for oldest kid to help stave off the lockdown boredom and bring some joy from the utter nightmares that were remote kindergarten and first grade learning. She's never really stopped playing, but I didn't get into it until this year. Not sure why it never clicked before. Only criticism I have is the one island per Switch design, which just got worse when the youngest started playing and now we have fences to mark territories, after carefully negotiating for who gets to live by each resident. The fight for Bluebear almost ended in me taking the game from everyone.
Weird thing is everyone always since New Horizons is too bare bones. I picked up New Leaf recently and found it not relaxing or appealing at all. The minimalist Island setup jives with vibe much better for me.
Happy 5th anniversary New Horizons, and Doom Eternal.
Covid was 5 years ago??!! HOW?!
Casual profanity is casual.
this week started a new game in new leaf.. (hacked the 3ds to give me more money;)) ... .but will start acnh today... Facebook reminded me of this moment as well today.. really remember that Friday... the cart arrive at dinner time...
Removed - unconstructive; user is banned
Had a lot of fun with this, and by far the longest game I played on the Switch. New Leaf is still the better game IMO though.
(suggestion: a certain article found to had been helpful at this World Wide Web address)
https://www.netmanners.com/262/no-place-for-profanity/
I just posted a retrospective/review video about it you should totally check it out ahaha…
https://youtu.be/DhuMRhGNMbo?si=XsE8KNZXC2nU_Cck
Seriously I’m very proud of it so if you watch it pls let me know how I did!!
I hate how Nintendo abandoned it so quickly in its lifetime. They should have kept the updates going for at least three years. New Horizons is the reason why so many people purchased the Nintendo Switch during the Covid-19 pandemic. They should have kept that momentum.
This game was really disappointing for me tbh, it was missing so much in terms of customization options, where was all the content from previous games?!
It could have been a genuine contender for Nintendo as a GaaS with new content added even to this day, I would have happily payed a few £ for content that I wanted, like clothing, furniture and decor.
Also, why were the villagers so devoid of personality?
It felt like they put so much effort into the Island building that they forgot about every other mechanic in the game.
Hopefully the next one will be a lot better and supported for a longer period of time.
I occasionally bounce off for a couple weeks, but I'm pretty consistent. I still play every day for the most part. Especially since I've started playing the stalk market and revamping my island with new areas and major layout changes. It still feels like the hot new thing to me! I am curious about what the next one will be like, but I imagine it's still a few years away. Which is totally fine, I have a ton to do already.
@kereke12 This was my reaction with Splatoon 3. Just couldn’t believe they would only support the game with regular updates for a mere two years before dropping it like a stone. Certain badges would require a solid decade to obtain. And I convinced myself the four different color splats for the DLC meant four waves instead of the actual two.
Boggles my mind that they didn’t hold S3 off until the Switch 2. Simultaneously neutered both Splatoon 2 and 3 by releasing both on the Switch.
Been enjoying my island again for the past three months. Have under 80 diy recipes to obtain and a dozen each of the big/fish models left. It is starting to feel like a chore, but I am close to closing out 2021.
I have a big decision to make with the DLC. My goal was to fill the grid with a villager at every island, but keeping each species together on the same grid location. Only problem- there are 48 vacation spots, but only 30-ish villager species. My solution was to use villagers that represented a different species than their actual species. So Drago the dragon has his own island, instead of being placed with the other gators.
But a loading screen tip mentioned I can use the souvenir chocolates to get characters from my island interested in a vacation home… if that applies to non-villagers than that opens up far more species and I can move Drago (and the many non-ostriches) back together. I haven’t tried moving a vacation home, I know the outside will need to change, but if I have to redo the interior from scratch… yeah, no thanks.
Sorry for late reply.
I was sleeping.
Anyway, HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY ACNH! 🥰🎂
I made this photoshoot at Harv Island for the celebration.
I still play ACNH until today whenever I bored to play other games.
I have accumulated more than 1085 hours gameplay.
ACNH is The BEST Animal Crossing game I have ever played! 😄
I agree that it's crazy how old New Horizons is, but I thought this was a family friendly brand(Especially seeing as how it revolves around Nintendo). The article is ok, but was the title necessary? Looks like I need to start monetizing this pages content from my kids.
It was fun for a little while, but I got tired of waiting for them to release the update(s) that would make it as good as New Leaf was.
I've heard a rumor that that still hasn't happened...
i love love LOVE animal crossing happy birthday new horizons !!!!! one of the finest games on switch, i could never do without seeing raymond once a week. never get tired of it, so much content, cant wait for the next 😻😻😻
also the polls prove that nintendolife is alwayyyssss hilarious
"...New Horizons had outsold every other entry in the series, and it has since gone on to shift a whopping 47.77 million copies..."
Yet 10% of the poll respondents have not purchased the game. Kinda weird.
To be fair, I only remember the date it came out and thus that it's been five years because quite a few things happened that day:
1. I turned 35.
2. I was sent home from work early because my office decided everyone would work from home for the next two weeks while this covid thing sorted itself out.
3. I came home to a package on my stoop with my copy of that Animal Crossing game everyone was talking about, so I was able to fill my sudden fortnight of free time seeing why everyone was so excited.
I of course understood the hype before long, though to this day I still wonder what could possibly have been in the 15-minute preview at PAX East earlier that month that people thought was worth waiting in line all day (literally: I tried getting in line one morning and was told the line was closed because it would take all day to admit the people who were already there). It's a great game, but it's too slow of a burn to get much out of 15 minutes.
Time is speeding up and everyone sees this. It is a phenomenon that was widely regarded as something to do with perception and old age, but nowadays even young people feel it. I feel it. There are theories that it's because of "doomscrolling" and getting information faster than being able to remember them, but I call red bull.
Conspiracy theories start
@SlamDunk22 well, it was an import operation from our good neighbors. Or did you mean how was it so long ago and not how it happened
It...It cant be...NOOOOOO!!
The game that kept me sane during the “pandemic”. For that I am eternally grateful. This game will always hold a special place in my memories.
It is. Just accept the facts.
When ACNH hit the market I had just been laid off by the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour and finished my diploma. Spent literally 5-6 months at home just playing Animal Crossing with my mom waiting to hear back from my transfer university, which ended up also being online due to the Backstreet Boys for another year. A lot of really obnoxious Zoom classes were saved by shaking trees and digging for fossils. I remember I accidentally had the console on camera once and a girl complained to my colleagues that there was no was I was going anywhere playing 'silly games at school'. Ended up graduating with honour and two achievement awards two years later. Take that random mean girl!!
@Wisestfool I hope Nintendo takes their games seriously regarding longevity on some of their games.
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