Graduations, fashion shows, television shows … How Animal Crossing has taken our world

Animal Crossing: New Horizons could be the object of study to analyze what impact has it had on life of players during confinement, beyond numbers. Sales are a reality, while life on the island is another dimension that Nintendo Switch players traded on March 20. A journey of no return because this saga has a reputation for catching for a long time. And so digital sales have gone, becoming the best-selling game in digital format with 5 million units in one month. But Animal Crossing has plenty of reasons to break records.

You just have to look around to realize the phenomenon, as it happened with other games like Pokémon GO in that summer of 2016. Youtube has been filled with videos where islands are visited with a sickly design level which shows that confinement has been long for many. Or not. Precisely Animal Crossing: New Horizons came at the most appropriate time to liven up the days for many young people who had to stay home until further notice. It is true that video games boost the production of endorphins, a narcotic substance that manages to evade the player, but in Animal Crossing much more has happened than that.

A game capable of relieving stress

According to a study looking at the relaxing nature of games, 55% of the players in a sample of 1000 individuals play video games because they helps to relax and relieve stress of daily life. While 60% of those surveyed consider that playing is part of their social life because thanks to games they have made more friends than in other areas of their lives.

All this would explain the success of New Horizons even more in a context of mandatory isolation, where players have not been able to have that social approach. And then is when reality has gradually moved into the game almost without realizing it. This saga rewards daily play, interaction with villagers or gradually building an island, a place where you can feel comfortable and calm. There is no apparent goal or pace of play. That is why these days it has become the best option to spend hours in a relaxed atmosphere that has no end. In fact, when you finish paying for the last expansion of the house, the game insists on that concept. «From now on I will be able to do what I want», that is to say, no strings attached.

Extreme confinement has been a measure adopted in most countries affected by the coronavirus. Then, the population began to miss their most important social events such as graduations or weddings. But the Animal Crossing: New Horizons players found a way to celebrate those events by socializing with their friends on the islands. Yes, virtually. Animal Crossing allows you to recreate many situations, as well as express your feelings through emotions

. So over time, students have held graduations like in Minecraft, while others created a new format for television contest imitating the Deal or No Deal program American where to earn lots of berries.

Animal Crossing sets the trend

The lost routine in real life has taken another dimension in the game, getting up early on Sundays like never before to buy turnips, for example. This has created a link between players difficult to understand for those who have not tried it, but also Animal Crossing is an endless source of memes. The customization options are so great that it took time to see both surreal situations and type series represented. The Office, Brooklyn 99 or even Pokémon. There are no limits.

There are also no limits for fashion designers, who have found in Animal Crossing a way to teach the upcoming trends. After all, Animal Crossing is a trend. The great fashion catwalks have been canceled and that has not been an impediment for prestigious brands such as Valentino parade with their designs. Even the magazine Vogue has echoed the Animal Crossing phenomenon

when designers like Marc Jacobs, Valentino or Sandy Liang have launched designs from the game with the Nookofono application. Valentino has shown its autumn collection consisting of a total of 20 models for men and women. Really something unheard of in the world we live in and maybe follow the guild rule “Renewed or die”. Similarly, there are already Instagram accounts that have dedicated this pause to photograph these personalized designs and bring fashion to the public in a different way.

In line with this fever, the Madrid Costume Museum has signed up, sharing on social networks the most emblematic designs from its collection like the Delphos of Mariano Fortuny that you can see on these lines. While the New York MET did the same with its exhibition of paintings and other valuable pieces (400,000 works of art) so that players can openly say that they have a “real” Van Gogh on their island. All this makes it clear that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has created a new reality in which we feel comfortable because it is the kindest reality at hand.