What will the next Animal Crossing be like in the future?

[VanitasFan26]

Please Note this thread is just speculation and does not confirm anything of what the next AC will be like. Also any rumors will not be counted as sometimes they could be proven wrong:

Since we are now nearly 2 years after the release of Animal Crossing New Horizons and Nintendo releasing the "Last Major Update" last year I thought it would be interesting to discuss the next Animal Crossing game in the future. Now from what I understand from past AC games they typically come on different home consoles. The original AC came out on GameCube, Wild World on DS, City Folk on Wii, New Leaf on 3DS, and finally New Horizons on the Switch (For whatever reason the Wii U was skipped over mainly because that system failed but thats a topic for another time)

The games have changed throughout the year. You went from being a Resident in a Town to being the new Mayor (New Leaf) and Resident Representative (New Horizons). So I have to wonder what role will be like in the next Animal Crossing game? My guess is that we could go back to being the Mayor again but this time instead of being in charge of a Town you're in charge of a City. You're job as Mayor is to make buildings, hire workers, build a community, and design the layout of what the city should look like. Now this sounds crazy but I think it would be really cool to have your own City. City Folk we only just visited the city so I figured maybe one day we can make our own City.

Now I know this may not be everyone's cup of a tea since they are used to making and designing islands from New Horizons so it would be interesting to see how everyone will look at it. That was my idea of what the next Animal Crossing game could be like, but what about you? What are some ideas you think the next Animal Crossing main game will be like?

 

[Elias_]

This is all pure speculation, but here are my thoughts:
First of, I think that the reason the game has already received its last major update is mostly because Nintendo is preparing for a Switch successor, which could be released within the coming years. The Switch is almost five years old now and Nintendo said it would be supported for 7-8 years. Maybe they also had many great ideas for DLCs and decided to make a successor instead, this is what happened with Breath of the Wild.

I believe the general direction won't change as much, but they will focus more on the online aspect. I'd expect the game to generally have more options to play with others (e.g. a return of the minigames). This was a criticism that I personally heard quite a bit and I think Nintendo is aware that improving Animal Crossing in this area could provide the game with more longevity.

Also, New Horizons added "I want to go to work" as its own menu selection at the airport. Details like this could indicate that they had originally had planned for a variety of jobs. I could definitely see this as a direction the series takes. It doesn't interfere with the core gameplay, but at the same time it provides a lot of variety.

Personally, I feel like the island setting for New Horizons wasn't fully thought out. They had to resort to additional islands to bring back old characters, the mystery islands you can visit mostly serve the purpose of meeting new villagers, which is not necessary anymore after playing for a while, and so on. I think they could try a similar setting again in the next game, but fix the issues that many people had with New Horizons. The next game in the series probably won't come out in the near future, but considering how well New Horizons sold, they will probably get a bigger budget, more staff and since it doesn't come out soon: more time.

 

[PakeAC]

Hey, adding a couple of thoughts on the role of the player! I think the player will likely be given at least as big a role in customizing the town / island / city or whatever the new game will offer as New Horizons did. Since the game sold so well and it seems to be the path the series has been taking since New Leaf, I don't think the new game will go back to the more relaxing, less involved role in the older games. However, I don't think they will want to lose the spirit of Animal Crossing and just go all in on the customization as the driving force. One idea would be that the player starts as a normal villager and slowly gets more and more opportunities to get more important roles in the town. (I would also like to hope that they improve the gradual unlocking of facilities in the new game, since NH's shop upgrades didn't feel as satisfying as the older games' since there weren't many at all.)

 

[MiniPocketWorld]

I feel like whatever the theme will be, we will be building it from the ground up. I think alot of people liked that aspect from new horizons and many people enjoy that aspect in simulation games in general. To have the theme be a city, it would be amazing to start with wilderness first or broken down old abandoned buildings.

 

[TurnipBell20]

I think being able to design and build up an entire city would be great. The different buildings in the DLC (cafe, school, hospital etc.) would be nice to have in an actual game. Additionally, City Folk was my favorite game of the series. I would love the city to come back bigger than before.

 

[Flicky]

I wouldn't be surprised if you end up choosing or earning the role your character has, so that you can fit the setting you're going with. Rep, Mayor, President, Citizen, King/Queen, etc.
It might also be nice if you could choose your 'starting ground'. Based on AC's history, perhaps the option to choose what type of area you build on - an island, a forest, a town, etc. and work with it. However, that might be too much data for the game to store. Still, I'd prefer to build my home in an enclosed forest, like the first game, instead of an island at least.

 

[Mr_Keroppi]

I hope that the next animal crossing has all of the design aspects of NH but brings back all of the fun and charm of past games. If they do free updates I am just going to assume the worst. I really hope everything goes back to being cozy village life + decorating, not decorating sim and uhh a little bit of life.

TBH I think it will be more of a sequel to NH not past games

 

[McRibbie]

Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be the exact same as NH, the same way that NH wasn’t the same as NL… but as much as people want it to be, I’m also hoping it isn’t just “OK, fine, you twisted our arm enough, we made NL again but with more control over villagers, happy now?” because that’s a truly desperate and cynical idea and it doesn’t properly fix my personal issues with NH, or NL either. In many ways it’d make NL worse. I also don’t want it to double down on NH’s worst ideas and make people even more mad, and I think completely going back to the pre-NL formula’s a good idea either because it’s a step back for the characters. It’s an honestly awkward situation, and I don’t envy the devs one bit.

At the same time, I honestly don’t know what I personally want next time around. As much as I keep saying “don’t put bits of old AC games in a blender”, I keep doing that mentally, so I’m probably the worst person to ask about this.

I’ve also said what I think could potentially happen behind the scenes for the next game before, so instead here’s a load of things I’d want to see, in a new AC game. They’re sometimes wildly over ambitious in a way even the AC team couldn’t manage, but here they are anyway:

• I keep wondering about a GC or NH-sized town that you can get a fairly lengthy train ride from to go to an enormous city, or at least a decently part of one that’s got a closed off-road at one point, but you can see that it’s full of big buildings and bright lights and isn’t just the plaza you’re in, and while there’s a decent amount of characters in it (and more specifically I’m thinking Gracie, Shrunk, Lyle/Digby/Lottie, Reece and Cyrus, maybe Katrina, occasionally Redd, Leif and Kicks with a little market stall or a tent that also pops up in your village occasionally, and some new NPCs too), there’s still a decent amount of visitors to your town as well. Best of both worlds, really. Your town doesn’t feel like nobody visits it, but it’s also not the narrative centre of the AC universe and it’s fairly isolated and empty.
• One thing I really missed in NL was the TNPS, mainly because I’d love a model of TIY or the emporium in my house and up to a 20% discount in-store (although I liked the fact the Nintendo stuff you could get with those points in LGTTC became fortune cookies). I also really like the Nook Points feature in NH, where you can redeem points for Nook Inc. themed goodies like the wall clock from Nookingtons, or Tom Nook’s jumper… and I’d love to see something of a combination between the two? Maybe something involving a lottery scratch card like the Japanese convenience store lotteries?
• I think Redd loses a lot of his “fell off the back of a lorry” skeeziness if you turn him entirely into an art dealer, a thing NH did revert to some extent but not entirely… but dammit, give the guy some exclusive furniture I can only get from him at a stupidly inflated price, and let him sell me things that are really easy to get for a stupidly inflated price too!
• We’ve got models for a lot of event furniture (although there’s a couple of other things I’d like to see return?)… so give me villagers celebrating those events, even in relatively minor ways! I wanna see Jock villagers gathered in the plaza watching the Big Game, having picnics during cherry-blossom season, the koinobori out during the start of May for Children’s Day, villagers barbecuing stuff on Labor Day, and of course, bringing back the Sports Fair for Sports Day in October (but make it so you can actually compete in the damn thing, that’s a problem I have with the one in the original games)
• I’d also want something like turning on the lighthouse or Boondox: something ultimately quite small and inconsequential, with a fairly small reward, but something you’d put a decent amount of effort into and something that adds to the charm of the world of AC.
• Bring back live K.K. bootlegs! Make villagers give them to you the first time you come to their house on an organised visit instead of the normal airchecks… this also incentivises you to let villagers go (although this could backfire, so idk about that)
• Also, before I forget: for god’s sake, make villager pics into a momentous occasion again. Don’t make it so you end up with 3 or 4 of the damn things, or orbit a holiday around them and make getting them easy if you know what to Google.

 

[BluebearL]

I love the animal crossing in space jokes, that would actually be so cool. Anyway.

New Horizons was very much the perfect response to consumers/players from the new leaf era. People had been using custom design squares to create paths, so Nintendo provided a proper path building mechanism. People had been theming and trying to control the layout of their towns to the best of their abilities, so Nintendo made this all the more possible with lots of design features and control such as choosing villager plots. Marshal and cat villagers were massively popular in new leaf so they combined the two and created Raymond. Cooking, veggies, crafting, etc… all stuff I remember people talking about before new horizons. So perhaps in order to make predictions about the next game, we need to look at the biggest demands from the fans at the moment.
- soulful villagers
- more Nooks upgrades
- more npcs
- mini games
- QOL/convenience
- cutesy characters
- more furniture

Honestly I think they might go back to more of a city setting or something that facilitates more shops and upgrades. That or they’ll return to the forest. I don’t know.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Honestly I think they might go back to more of a city setting or something that facilitates more shops and upgrades. That or they’ll return to the forest. I don’t know.

That is a possibility since City Folk is so underrated I really liked the City aspect of it. I really do wonder if they make us become "Mayor" again we could probably make our own City with some "New Horizons" tools to help out like deciding which layout to choose and choosing where the buildings will go. Of course thats just wishful thinking but it would be cool if we can make our own city.

Not to mention in Happy Home Paradise you did have the feature to make Facilities and give villagers their job so I don't see why they can't do this again in the next game because there is a lot more potential to expand this feature and make it better in the next game.

 

[CylieDanny]

Briefly read this somewhere, may be true or not,

But I heard that Nintendo was making another game, but its on the PS5.. maybe they'll add new stuff in there like relationships being visible, stuff like that. Maybe make the Townhall able to move, Add in more villagers exclusive to that game only, ya know. Good old Nintendo stuff

I dont knowbif AC fans ask for relationships, I think were all happier coming up with our own. So that would be weird ngl. But lots of people wanna move the town hall, and they would probably further expsnd the creative line, for those who use custom designs make it unlimited. Ya know, stuff they think, will draw in the crowd

 

[VanitasFan26]

Briefly read this somewhere, may be true or not,

But I heard that Nintendo was making another game, but its on the PS5.. maybe they'll add new stuff in there like relationships being visible, stuff like that.

Like I mentioned before and I made this clear don't always believe the rumors. I highly doubt Nintendo would ever port their game on another console. I know that they and Sony had a rocky relationship where they were supposed to work on a console together but it never came true and they parted ways.

 

[CylieDanny]

Like I mentioned before and I made this clear don't always believe the rumors. I highly doubt Nintendo would ever port their game on another console. I know that they and Sony had a rocky relationship where they were supposed to work on a console together but it never came true and they parted ways.

Ok? But these are just my thoughts on it

 

[xSuperMario64x]

not gonna get my hopes up but I reeeeally hope that the next game has a camera that isn't fixed. I think being able to move the in-game camera and point it in most angles would make the gameplay experience so much more interesting and immersive.

 

[Mr_Keroppi]

not gonna get my hopes up but I reeeeally hope that the next game has a camera that isn't fixed. I think being able to move the in-game camera and point it in most angles would make the gameplay experience so much more interesting and immersive.

I used to dream that the next AC would look like the MK8 track in like 2015 or 2016 and New Horizons is BEAUTIFUL buuuuut I wished we had a free camera and no rolling log. We have been using rolling log since WW PLEASE CHANGE IT......... PLEASE MAKE EVERYTHING 3D NEXT TIME NINTENDO I DONT LIKE HOW TREES LOOK LIKE THIS:

 

[VanitasFan26]

I used to dream that the next AC would look like the MK8 track in like 2015 or 2016 and New Horizons is BEAUTIFUL buuuuut I wished we had a free camera and no rolling log. We have been using rolling log since WW PLEASE CHANGE IT......... PLEASE MAKE EVERYTHING 3D NEXT TIME NINTENDO I DONT LIKE HOW TREES LOOK LIKE THIS:
View attachment 439170

You know its funny how we have full rotation camera controls in all the other Nintendo games like Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, and Pokemon Legends Arceus, yet ACNH doesn't even let you rotate the camera when you're outside.

 

[_confused_piplup_]

Actually, this is quite a tricky question. Because I feel like New Horizons changed many things from New Leaf. The core game has always been building your Town/Island, so I think that is gonna stay the same of NH. I think that the greatest improvement in NH is how customizable your Island can be. You can literally change the rivers and lakes, which is really important because it takes the "make the Island of your dreams" concept to another level. So, I am not expecting the next animal crossing game to change this, meaning we will have to choose a base map at the beginning of the game and that we will have few facilities to locate in our Town/Island. I have no idea if we're going to live again in an Island or in a Town. Surely there must be sea and the idea of the Airport seems to be quite good to be changed back to train station or something different, but who knows. Honestly, I am not expecting it, but I am hoping for it, being able to move the Resident Services building. That is the only limit to Island customization that NH has. So, that would be the another improvement.
I also expect the free update + DLC formula to be present in the next game as well. Animal Crossing is intended to be a very long game, but indeed it tends to be repetitive. So, giving a boost after a year is a nice move to bring many players back to play the game and be excited once again for "something new". I haven't the DLC, so i can't really say much about it, but I think the idea was pretty cool, especially because it's a "playable" part of the game, where you actually have a job to do, but especially a goal to achieve. I think this idea will be renewed somehow, but will be present in the next games as well.

 

[JKDOS]

With development being dead for this game, and the beyond expected reception the game received, I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo is already working/planning the next game, or at the least going to sooner than usual. New Horizons broke the internet, and has bright more attention to fans to the game than any of the past games ever came close to. Nintendo would have to be foolish to ignore the series anymore at this point.

The next game will obviously be released on Nintendo's next console. The Switch is already 5 years old, and very dated, so we might be seeing a new console in the next 1-2 years. (My theory is co-released with BOTW2). It's possible we'll have the next AC game by 2027 or sooner.

With how far tech has come, I think it's safe to assume the next game will not only offer the largest map yet, but a full 360 viewable landscape.

Here are at least 3 ideas how how things could go for the town.

Option 1:
We may go back to a theme of being something like a mayor again. It's possible the game will keep with the idea of building something from the ground up, so we may acquire an area of land that is in beat up and in bad shape, and we fix it and and start a town there.

Option 2:
We go back to the original style where we move into a pre-existing town, but mixed with elements of the newer games. This could be the opportunity to introduce a new NPC who is the mayor, and you'll probably work as his/her right hand assistant improving the town and raising the town's approval and popularity rating.

Option 3:
Happy Home Designer, but a full game. You are not the mayor. You move into a pre-existing town/city because you're starting a new career there as a decorator at Happy Homes. You will be tasked with decorating the homes of villagers who live in that town, and the mayor might even task you with doing some design and landscaping around the town to improve its image and scenery. Eventually, you might even start outsourcing your services by decorating for villagers who don't live directly in your town (More like HHD and HHP)


For mode of transportation (arriving and leaving town), I am hoping for a maglev. It's like the train, but better. And with such, we can hope to see Porter again.


I do foresee Nintendo continuing with content updates rather than release a full -finished game at once.

My only concern is that Tom Nook will get the Tortimer/Nat/Chip/Gracie treatment and get replaced since people seem to despise him so much just for asking for interest-free, no-deadline mortgage payments.

 

[VanitasFan26]

My only concern is that Tom Nook will get the Tortimer/Nat/Chip/Gracie treatment and get replaced since people seem to despise him so much just for asking for interest-free, no-deadline mortgage payments.

I hope thats not the case. I'm all for new characters/npcs being introduced but they should not get replaced.

 

[BetsySundrop]

I have to add my wish to the list. Along with full camera rotation, being able to place buildings facing different directions would be nice.

I'd like to have buildings face each other, face the beach, placed at angles, face the road, face and place anything other than just straight and forward.