Animal Crossing Wii U would, under normal circumstances, be about due to be announced at E3 2015. Under normal circumstances. But we’ve long assume that the game, or a new Animal Crossing 3DS game, won’t be showing up anytime soon, since the heart of the development team for Splatoon comes from the Animal Crossing group. But a new aside in a statement to Kotaku throws all that into question. Because we’re getting Animal Crossing Amiibos, and we’re getting them this year. Why?
Do Animal Crossing Amiibos Mean A New Animal Crossing Game Is Coming?
Nintendo recently apologized for not making enough Amiibo figures, and in its statement to Kotaku, the company explained some of its future Amiibo plans. Here’s the most important highlight vis-à-vis Animal Crossing: “These plans include Animal Crossing amiibo cards that will become available by the end of 2015.” To me, new Amiibos—even if they’re just in card form—strongly suggest that a new Animal Crossing game is on the way.
The last Animal Crossing game came out nearly two years in the United States. And Animal Crossing: New Leaf was a big hit, too. Nintendo has since kept the momentum going with free Wii U home themes and such things, as well as the inclusion of Villager in Super Smash Bros—not to mention the Animal Crossing DLC pack for Mario Kart 8. But Amiibos? An actual physical release in support of a two-year-old game—or in support of nothing in particular—doesn’t seem terribly likely. Chances are they’ll be backing a new game.
And that game will probably be for Wii U. After all, despite the Splatoon team getting higher priority, we do know that Nintendo is working on a new Animal Crossing game, although we don’t know what platform it’s for. Considering Wii U isn’t exactly flying off the shelves even now, and certainly wasn’t two years ago, it makes sense that Nintendo would swing the next game in the series to the console side.
Either way, odds for a new Animal Crossing game this year are looking better than they have in a while. Maybe we’ll even see something announced at E3 2015. What do you think?
