Summary
Leaked footage from a newHoYoversegame bares a striking resemblance to Nintendo’sAnimal Crossingfranchise. Rumors have been circulating that theGenshin Impactdeveloper has been working on anAnimal Crossingcopycat for quite some time. Now, footage making the rounds online has only fueled the rumors even more, especially asHoYoverseseems to be offering up the perfect crossover. HoYoverse has kept viewers thoroughly engaged withGenshin ImpactandHonkai: Star Rail, but thisAnimal Crossingparody – or so it seems – could be the icing on the proverbial cake.
Animal Crossingdebuted in 2001 withan enhanced GameCube versionof the Japanese video gameDobutsu no Mori, which literally translates to “Animal Forest.” From there, the franchise truly hooked its intended demographic withAnimal Crossing: Wild Worldfor the Nintendo DS. Due to the franchise’s rising popularity,Animal Crossingreceived three more follow-up games:Animal Crossing: City Folk,Animal Crossing: New Leaf, andAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, the latter of which was the first title in the franchise to release on the Nintendo Switch.
Footage from HoYoverse’s upcoming game appeared onTwitter, but the exact origins of the video cannot be determined. The minute-long clip shows a chibi-style character inGenshin Impact’s classic art style traversing an open field to chop down trees. Many aspects of the game, even down to the chopping animation and crafting interface, seem to be directly inspired byAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, specifically. Even the animation of showing off a crafted item at the workbench is identical to the supposed source material. The only difference, some viewers have noted, seems to be that HoYoverse’s version has a movable camera, whereasAnimal Crossing’s camera has always been fixed. In fact, there are a fewAnimal Crossingfeatures that could be changed.
HoYoverse Could Outdo Nintendo With Its Own Version Of Animal Crossing
In fact, many comments seem to be sold on the camera mechanism alone. Naturally, the game looks a little clunky in its early stages and far from polished by any means, but if it follows the same format as HoYoverse’s other properties, it would presumably bea like-minded free-to-play gamewhich would already put it ahead ofAnimal Crossingin one crucial area. It isn’t a secret that Nintendo charges a hefty price for the latestAnimal Crossinggame, so as inflation continues to impact numerous countries around the world, the prospect of a freeAnimal Crossingdoppelganger is hard to resist.
Fans who have stayed, and will continue to stay, loyal to Nintendo all these years must be asking themselves whether the multi-billion-dollar company will phone it in on the nextAnimal Crossingif HoYoverse goes the full mile with this prototype. Hopefully, that isn’t the case. But as Nintendo continues to turn a profit with other franchises that aren’t at suchhigh risk of being overthrown asAnimal Crossing, likeMarioandZelda, the possibility is always looming.
HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
Based in Shanghai, China, miHoYo is a development company best known for creating Genshin Impact and the Honkai series.
