Only 2 years of updates? Fine or not?

[Mairen]

Does anyone else find it strange that Nintendo has decided to stop tending/caring for/updating one of their best selling games of all time after only two years?

Mind you, this isn't meant to be a "I'm not happy with new horizons, I want more updates" type of thread. I'm more asking from the game producers end on why they have chosen to stop updating one of their biggest games after only two years.

A few guesses I have come up with is that perhaps they expect a lot of players will have moved on to other games by now, so they dont find it financially worth it? Though I feel that any update they put out (something more significant than just a couple of new holiday items), is going to draw people back into the game.

Related to the first guess, it could be that they want to dedicate their employees to other games or even start the planning stages for the next animal crossing game (I'm sure it properly takes years from planning to a game's release).

It just seemed strange to me that they'd drop this game after only two years, considering how huge it became

 

[McRibbie]

I'd assume it's a combination of "we've been working on this game since 2017, and we've had ideas for it since 2012, time to move on", "we've put most of the things we wanted to put into the game after launch into the game now", "while it's sold a lot of copies, our play data that we've gathered from people's Switches indicates that there's been a significant drop in play", the sheer amount of backlash they've received on Twitter and other social media sites (some justifiable, some that could honestly make AC worse if they decide to go through with it?), and "AC sells incredibly well, let's cash in on that and make another one for the Switch"

 

[maria110]

I just hope that the game developers are working on making the next AC game even better than ACNH. It bums me out that (by then), I'll probably need to buy a new console to play the new game, but I think what they've done with the this game and the series in general is reasonable. If players complete the game, they can just reset and start over. Or do a flattening and redecorate. Or try a new theme. Or switch to a different game. Or play Pocket Camp or something. I might end up buying a 3DS XL and getting New Leaf. I just haven't found the console cheap enough yet.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I would generally not care except that Pocket Camp has been out for much longer and it's still being regularly supported to this day, 4+ years later. it would've been better if they didn't release New Horizons as a half-baked attempt at an AC game. the update thing really did a terrible job in keeping my interest.

 

[Mr_Keroppi]

I would generally not care except that Pocket Camp has been out for much longer and it's still being regularly supported to this day, 4+ years later. it would've been better if they didn't release New Horizons as a half-baked attempt at an AC game. the update thing really did a terrible job in keeping my interest.

Yeah I honestly hate when people say that updates that finish it later make you come back to the game. 2.0 has alot of amazing things that at launch would have made me play so much more but since I got so tired and bored of ACNH I did not play nearly as much as I would have. I have only sunk in around an extra 20 hours in 2.0 when I would have added thousands. I really wish NH was complete but atleast now NH is still fun. I never really got bored to the extent of ACNH in past ac games. I love them all equally I just hope that the next game is a good AC game and NO UPDATES ALLOWED
I think the reason I got bored of NH unlike others is because I never like destroying things and re-building. I LOVE designing in NH and its fab but after I built my island I never took anything down I just seasonally changed it. LOVE ALL THE AC'S OKEE BYEEE

 

[Corrie]

Not to be this guy but probably in order to make the next game for people to buy.

 

[KittenNoir]

It makes me sad that they just put out the game then did 2ish years worth of updates then went k bye that's it see ya next game. Like other people have said above it is sad to think that they are just focusing on making the next game and that's why they have stopped with the updates. But for some reason pocket camp keeps getting updates with new fashion and amazing furniture that I still really really want in New Horizons

 

[Flicky]

I think it just felt a little strange watching these tiny event updates for a long time and then, BAM, massive update, farewell and don't forget to buy the expansion pack before you stop playing entirely. 2.0 felt very rushed to me, almost like they definitely planned to update gradually as time went on, but then their focus was needed elsewhere (Splatoon 3 I guess), so it became 'just throw out what you've got and get outta there'.

Although I'm not fond of item DLC, it does feel like a missed opportunity to add more items, even if they came as special items with the amiibo cards.

 

[Mairen]

I suppose it makes sense that even if they were to release updates, it wouldn't actually make them any money unless it was another DLC expansion. I mean, anyone who wants to play animal crossing has probably already bought it at this point, so any update now wouldn't actually draw in more fans/money.

I'm not entirely sure myself if the rumors that the game was released in an incomplete state are true or not, and that they simply "finished" the game with 2.0. I don't think these games are really known for having regular updates anyways, so I suppose it could be true. I believe Pocket Camp continues to get regular updates because that's what people expect from mobile games. These larger console games, though, are typically released already completed.

 

[-Blue-]

Updates are fine. I didn't mind the wait initially, but as time went on it was clear that the updates were less 'let's put new and or old minor features back into the game' and more 'Here's all the base game content that we've been cherry-picking' It took us until October to sit. A reaction to just drop your butt on the ground. And people were losing their minds over that. You can't tell me that doesn't indicate how starved we were for actual in game content.

Something the AI was able to do since the beginning. When I see something available in the game, but its locked from me not because of progression but because I have to wait 8 months, I tend to get a bit annoyed.

This game is going to benefit those who pick it up now, but honestly when it dropped in 2020 it felt like we paid full price for beta-testing. It also didn't sit right as others have stated that their mobile game was getting more attention.

 

[Rosch]

To answer the topic question... It is fine for what it is, but I am honestly still not satisfied.

If you think about it technically, all these updates should've been part of the base game right from the start, and HHP is only the actual DLC.

Yes, we don't have something like Tortimer's island, tropical fruits, perfect fruits, Desert Island Escape, fortune cookies/Nintendo-themed items, Gracie, Nook shop upgrades, still missing old furniture sets, April Fools, The Roost part-time job, Resident Services/Building exterior options, etc... but the game, while not the definitive experience I was hoping for, is basically complete.

When 2.0 dropped, I already accepted that we won't be getting anything else. If we continue to get something new, then cool. If not, then okay. I've already clocked in 1,000+ hours into this game for two years straight without skipping a single day, and I already got my money's worth. I am ready to move on to the next one.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

While I'm mostly happy with the game overall, I do think it's weird that the game only got 2 years of updates (well, less than 2 years, actually). I think another year or two would bring NH to perfection. New Horizons was the best selling game in the series if I'm not mistaken and yet we're missing some pretty big things. Why would they not focus a little bit more on the game?

But it is what it is I guess!

 

[peachycrossing9]

It's stupid that a lame mobile game is getting more content and updates than New Horizons. I wish they would give New Horizons that much love. It's really sad to see them give up on it.

But at the same time, I'm kinda over it. Getting upset isn't gonna do anything, so I'm just accepting Nintendo's decision and getting on with it. There are other games I can spend my time on if acnh eventually becomes stale for me. Which it hasn't yet. I still play almost everyday.

Overall I'm happy with what we did get. Even if there is still a bit missing.
If we end up with a new AC game in the future then that would make up for it 100%. (If the game is actually good LOL).

But eh, who cares. I'm just gonna keep decorating my island.

 

[Romaki]

It would be fine if the game wasn't missing so many things still. I don't know a lot about development, but I can't imagine it'd be too difficult to convert the items from Pocket Camp to New Horizons. In theory, the earnings from Pocket Camp should be able to support both games. I know they are different teams, but Nintendo doesn't need to pretend it's going broke over Animal Crossing. Pocket Camp apparently made over $120m in 2020-2021. And New Horizons sold 37 million copies so far at $60 a piece... hmmm...

It just feels disrespectul how New Horizons is treated compared to Pocket Camp. They were fast to work on DLC, but they couldn't be bothered to convert items. At the very least bring back multiplayer games. To me, a big problem of New Horizons is that everything unlocked so fast. I played New Leaf for months because your town would continue to develop.

 

[Beanz]

new horizons was the second best selling switch according to nintendolife.com. we waited for 2 in a half years for this game to come out and once it did the whole world was talking about it. it feels like nintendo just took the money and ran and it didn’t even feel like they put two years worth of updates into the game. they’re probably thinking about developing a new animal crossing right now, but the sad thing is that it’s probably going to be for the next console since the switch is already 6 years old. i’ll give them another 3 years and they’ll be out with a new console. in terms of current development, i think nintendo is focused elsewhere instead of developing new updates for a game that came out two years ago. they delayed the release once in 2019 which everyone was pressed about so you would’ve thought that new horizons would have been more than a beta game that had a $50 price tag. also it looks like nintendo wanted to introduce a whole audience of gamers who had no idea what animal crossing was with new horizons rather than satisfy long time players with the new game which is fine but i wish they would’ve taken into account that this has been millions of people’s favorite videogame franchise since the early 2000s.

 

[Mutti]

I find it odd they stopped after 2 years considering their still pushing the switch console itself so it would make sence to keep popular titles updated to get even more sales and interaction until you have developed a new system to push.

 

[-Blue-]

I just tried to download Pocket Camp on my phone. It's a few years old and used to belong to someone else, but they gave it to me when they upgraded and were tired of trying to fix the phone. I spent a little bit of time cleaning up all the data that bogged it down and fixing it and it booted up nicely for me after some patience and work.

Anyway it's not compatible with PC even though the model is younger than how long the app has been out. Whatever lol.

But I browsed some of the images when I was looking up the reason for this. PC has a lot of pleasing aesthetics, villager interaction/reactions to their environment, a lot of fancy looking furniture and buildings and it made me realize that a lot of people claim that NH is the best in-game designer simulation for AC where everything is for the most part for aesthetics. Would that mean that both games compete for each other? Because it honestly looks like PC has a lot more going with it for the aesthetics from what images I could see. Granted, I never played PC and I can't now that a device that is only a few years old can't be supported by a mobile game about 6 years old. So I'm only seeing the images and not actual game play.

I could've made a topic for this I guess, but it kind of applies to the 2 years of updates thing. PC is still regularly getting updates whereas NH was left in the shadow for months on end with content droughts. So if this is the case, it really does feel like they neglected the game. Yeah I get it, two different development teams, but it's also the same game series so you would think they'd try to make it seem like they neglected either (or the mainline game for that matter)

 

[McRibbie]

I just tried to download Pocket Camp on my phone. It's a few years old and used to belong to someone else, but they gave it to me when they upgraded and were tired of trying to fix the phone. I spent a little bit of time cleaning up all the data that bogged it down and fixing it and it booted up nicely for me after some patience and work.

Anyway it's not compatible with PC even though the model is younger than how long the app has been out. Whatever lol.

But I browsed some of the images when I was looking up the reason for this. PC has a lot of pleasing aesthetics, villager interaction/reactions to their environment, a lot of fancy looking furniture and buildings and it made me realize that a lot of people claim that NH is the best in-game designer simulation for AC where everything is for the most part for aesthetics. Would that mean that both games compete for each other? Because it honestly looks like PC has a lot more going with it for the aesthetics from what images I could see. Granted, I never played PC and I can't now that a device that is only a few years old can't be supported by a mobile game about 6 years old. So I'm only seeing the images and not actual game play.

I could've made a topic for this I guess, but it kind of applies to the 2 years of updates thing. PC is still regularly getting updates whereas NH was left in the shadow for months on end with content droughts. So if this is the case, it really does feel like they neglected the game. Yeah I get it, two different development teams, but it's also the same game series so you would think they'd try to make it seem like they neglected either (or the mainline game for that matter)

Tbh, from experience I think PC has a couple of things that honestly NH would be better with, like more animations of villagers interacting with things, and I need some of its original wallpapers in NH … but on the other hand, it’s got so, so much that I honestly hate (to the point I’m gonna jokingly claim it was designed to annoy me, to the point where I’m nitpicking about it) that I can’t go “yup, this is the better design-orientated AC game” about it, more “could we please have a few more waves of updates for NH that just add HD versions of PC furniture to it, so I don’t have to touch that horrible gacha game again?”

But I also feel as if PC has the benefit of using NL-quality models for things (if not outright reusing NL models), as well as using the “hey, you can get better things if you buy Leaf Tickets!” gacha system typical of mobile games, both of which mean they can pump out more for it overall compared to NH.

 

[-Blue-]

@McRibbie I honestly only wanted to install PC so I could get the items for NH when you link the accounts. The tapper furniture machine looked pretty cool lol. I figured mobile payments would be a thing, but since I never played and can't currently, I wasn't sure how much that affected someone who just played on the basic free version.

I do remember peopling showing pictures of the villager's doing various activities/reactions and even interacting with furniture on a higher level than NH does and that is kind of annoying. Like I really want to see my villagers and myself included being able to enter a water-based furniture piece. Like say the pool or hotspring and just chilling/soaking. When there was that clipping out of bounds glitch, people would clip into those pieces and use the sit down emote to make it look like they were doing exactly that. And reddit/the community ate it up. Which shows the community wants stuff like this very badly.

For a game that focuses more on aesthetics, I wish they had went that extra mile. I also miss when villager's actually acknowledged when you took a seat next to them. It's a small feature, but it's one I always loved.

 

[S.J.]

I'm fine with it, and I felt the game was complete off the shelf. I know many people are able to compare to the older AC games, but I've only played ACNH and PC, so I imagine this may be why I'm not disappointed at all. I had enough to do in-game, I spent hundreds of hours in play-time from it, and I really loved it. The 2.0 update and DLC really improved the game for me, and I feel satisfied with that too.

Updates for a year or two more would of course have been welcomed, but if it means they've potentially moved on to new projects I'll love, that's great too.

I don't know my start date (some time in 2018), but I played Pocket Camp daily until I got NH (~1.5 years). I was really happy with New Horizons because it felt really nice to not have items locked behind a paywall. Pocket Camp receives constant updates, but the cost of that is a constant stream of customer revenue. Initially in NH I was surprised how few different furniture sets there were because it limits your creativity, but now that NH has many new furniture sets, I don't miss any of the PC furniture.