Animal Crossing: New Horizons may have Nintendo's first openly gay characters

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a lot of firsts for the franchise, including things like terraforming. Something else has been discovered in New Horizons that if true, would be a first for the series, and a first for Nintendo as well.

As you can see above, C.J. can be seen having a conversation about his partner, Flick. Some may think this could mean business partner, and there's certainly wiggle room for that. Others believe it to be a reference to a romantic partner, which could be true as well. In the case of romantic partner, this is actually just one reference to same-sex partners in the game. If this is indeed a nod to same-sex relationships, as far as we know, it would mark the first occasion where there's an openly gay character in a first party title.

It's worth noting that these conversations are altered in the Japanese version of the game, as the discussion changes the word 'partner' to 'friend.' If this was indeed a conversation about business partners, it would seem odd for Nintendo to have the Japanese version say friend in this instance.

While the discussion rages on, fans continue to look for more evidence to sway the conversation in one direction or the other. Below you can see some backstory on C.J. and Flick, which shows they've certainly known each other for a long time.

I want to stress that we honestly don't know what the correct interpretation is, or if there is one. We have reached out to Nintendo for comment on the matter, but I would imagine it's very unlikely they'll give a clear-cut answer, if they even respond at all. If they do offer up a comment, we'll be sure to share.