For some Nintendo fans, another day that goes by is yet another day they have to suffer because there's still no Animal Crossing on the Switch.
Worry not, however: Nintendo is listening. After a lot of people turned to Twitter to complain about the absence of cutesy anthropomorphic animals during the company's E3 presentation, Reggie Fils-Aime now confirms that it's coming someday. Well, sort of.
He said the success of Pocket Camp, a mobile version of Animal Crossing infused with microtransactions, should bode well for the next title in the series.
'Animal Crossing' On Nintendo Switch
For the uninitiated, Animal Crossing, one of Nintendo's most popular franchises, lets players live inside an animal village where they can do a bunch of laidback stuff, such as collect fossils, go to the beach, decorate their house, pick fruits, and in the case of 3DS title New Leaf, become mayor and do perform mayoral duties, such as building public works projects and enacting laws.
The game doesn't sound that compelling on paper, to be sure, but there's a reason why this series is a cash cow for Nintendo — it's extremely charming. In a world filled with high-action titles such as Call of Duty, Diablo, and God of War, there's always a safe, snug space in Animal Crossing.
Fans ache to have that space on the Switch and here's what Fils-Aime has to say about it.
"Fans are really enjoying [the Pocket Camp] experience. We're introducing it to new consumers. That bodes well for whenever the next Animal Crossing might come," Fils-Aime stated.
'Mother 3'
Mother 3, originally released for the Game Boy only in Japan, has developed a strong fan base in the United States. They've long been holding out for the game's proper stateside release to no avail.
Fils-Aime said Nintendo is aware of the game's strong fan base, and that the company always thinks about how to reintroduce its old IPs while simultaneously gaining new fans along the way. There are currently no commitments for a Mother 3 release in the United States,
Fils-Aime said, but the company is aware fans want it. He also shared Nintendo's approach when it comes to in-development games.
"When we have something to announce, we will," Fils-Aime told IGN, adding that Nintendo doesn't want tease people for years like some companies do and this applies to other games as well.
Fils-Aime's comments coincide with the statement of Bill Trinen, senior product marketing manager, during this year's E3 when pressed about the absence of Metroid Prime 4 and the core Pokémon RPG from Nintendo's presentation.
"We want to show stuff when we think it's ready to show. Obviously, it's not like we've stopped working on any of the things we talked about last year, that stuff's all being worked on," said Trinen.
