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Sakurai shares his thoughts on the pandemic's impact on the game industry, and general thoughts on Animal Crossing

Wise words from a wise man
by rawmeatcowboy
27 January 2021
GN Version 5.0

Sakurai's most recent column in Famitsu is all about answering reader questions. In particular, Sakurai touches on the pandemic and how it's impacted the games industry, along with general thoughts on Animal Crossing. Check out some tidbits below, as translated by Kody NOKOLO and the Source Gaming team.

Pandemic

- handheld game consoles have had a revival during this period
- mobile games are declining
- downloadable games are being delayed
- there have been large-scale layoffs
- there are predictions that the market is going to change, but Sakurai says he's going to continue making the games he wants

Animal Crossing

- Animal Crossing was never made to be popular, and it all comes down to people's tastes
- Animal Crossing doesn't have a clear goal, the freedom of open world games, narratives, features of PVP/team-based games
- Animal Crossing is for people who want a long experience
- Sakurai feels it's important to have diverse kinds of experiences like this