Animal Crossing Guideline Update Could Mean Bad News for Creators
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the greatest games of 2020. It has massive financial success has surpassed expectations, most probably because of the global lockdown caused by COVID-19. But using a Thanksgiving and an AC:NH Toy Day party update pending, lovers got a nasty surprise from Nintendo that appears counter to the holiday spirit.
The enormous, world-wide phenomenon that’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons began all the way back in March 2020. After launch, tons of players flocked to an uninhabited island and started almost immediately creating articles. From YouTube movies to Twitch streams to black market sales of in-game things for real cash, the sport was anywhere. To date, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold about 15 million copies in the last 3 months alone, giving the game a total sale number that is closing in on 40 million copies.
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In a November 19th, 2020 update to the usage guidelines for the match, Nintendo cautioned content founders against using a 2020 Game of the Year Nominee Animal Crossing: New Horizons to make themselves any earnings in any way. The terms update comprised warning that appeared to target content creators specifically, mentioning that selling custom layouts or gaining earnings from videos featuring the game was now against conditions of support.
This seems like a slap in the face for several content creators, that took to Twitter to show how unpopular this update was
“Can Nintendo really just allow the obvious community aspect, there for articles founder space, take their game well beyond previous titles merely to eliminate that choice after it is [sic] success? ” -JanuaryAndOn
“Congrats, Nintendo you have killed this match. You can’t move your island, and don’t you dare show it to anybody if you are a content creator… Occasionally Nintendo makes me shake my mind ” -Ravage Vision.
It feels like Nintendo partially relied on content creators to increase sales, make the match massively popular, simply to begin removing monetized content from YouTube and other areas. Not to mention those who have shared custom inventions for Black Lives Matter, political parties, and candidates, along with other political problems.
While Nintendo also mentions in this Usage upgrade that”Businesses and organizations may utilize the Game in… Supplying your Custom Design and/or Fantasy Address into other gamers, Inviting different players to your own island, Uploading screenshots and/or game footage to family-friendly websites and societal network providers ,” does this comprise AOC and Joe Biden opening their AC:NH islands to visitors, believing that their jobs are inherently governmental?
Additionally, it begs the question what sort of retaliation which Nintendo has proposed against content creators that violate these rules.
When there are no rules against sharing the latest and greatest custom designs for Animal Crossing, such as most of the great Halloween designs from last month, there seems to be a rather thin line that content creators and companies might need to walk to maintain Nintendo at bay. Hopefully, this is just a valid precedent for eliminating problem or questionable content creators, and that most YouTubers and Let us Players will not hear out of Nintendo’s Legal Team.
