Bad news for Animal Crossing fans. After seven years of good and loyal service, the mobile game Pocket Camp will unfortunately be bowing out very soon. This sudden and unexpected closure was made official by email to the players concerned, as well as via the game's official social accounts. It will take effect on November 28. In the era of 100% online titles and other service games loaded with microtransactions, nothing is timeless. Many prefer to forget the ephemeral nature of the servers to focus on the fun of the game while it lasts, but this end is nonetheless inevitable... unless the developers are ready to make the necessary efforts: and Nintendo does not intend to stop there.
Aware of the global success of its mobile version of Animal Crossing, the Kyoto firm is not going to let Pocket Camp fall into oblivion. Some loyal players have gotten carried away on the networks following the announcement of the closure, but they probably read between the lines and missed the most important detail. Indeed, Nintendo's statement also comes with excellent news. The title's follow-up is coming to an end and the online features are about to disappear, but Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will be offered a definitive version to survive the test of time.
A simple overhaul to preserve the efforts of players
Don't worry: the hundreds of hours spent on farming lucky cookies to get the most perfect furniture isn't going to go up in smoke. On November 28, the Animal Crossing spin-off will cease to exist as it is today, namely a service game with social features. Events and updates will continue until that deadline, after which the game will return in a nearly identical offline version.
“Aside from the data transfer, the basic gameplay and controls will be the same as those of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. However, this application will allow the player to use the features included with a one-time purchase. There will be no microtransactions or subscription services,” we can read on Nintendo’s website. Concretely, players will be able to extend the experience by purchasing a full version of the title where all the content will be accessible at no additional cost, with the exception of online features (such as visiting other campers). More information and a release date will be shared in October.
Decorative items and other improvements will now be available for free, which will certainly make the most active players of the last seven years grind their teeth. Nevertheless, Nintendo should be congratulated for this initiative, which could have let its game disappear as has already been the case in the past. (yes, we're talking about you Dragalia Lost: European players haven't even had the chance to know you!).
This alternative version of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp proves that it is possible to preserve service games after their closure, if they are popular enough and can function in an offline stand-alone version. We can only hope that this model will apply to more and more titles in the future, whether they are Nintendo productions or not. Will studios be willing to invest time and money to participate in a global video game preservation effort? Nothing is less certain, but there is hope.
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