Prior to the Switch’s launch in 2017 (and right after the disastrously failure of the Wii U), Nintendo decided to try making games for the mobile market. These include spinoffs for the Mario, Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing series among various others, and were intended to provide an entry point for casual gamers to learn more about Nintendo’s games and franchises.
Unfortunately for them (and perhaps fortunately for everyone else), this plan didn’t work out the way Nintendo expected. With the exceptions of Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, Fire Emblem Heroes and Mario Kart Tour, the majority of their mobile apps failed quickly, with titles like Miitomo and Dr Mario World closing down mere weeks or months after launch.
And with Super Mario Run’s failure, it became clear that success in that market was incompatible with Nintendo’s design philosophy. That on mobile, success came from ads and microtransactions, not quality products offered at a premium price.
It was the wrong market for Nintendo, and one which the Switch proved unnecessary to target.
So, with the success of that console, the remaining Nintendo mobile games have slowly started winding down. With the latest example being Animal Crossing Pocket Camp.
Yep, as Nintendo said on Twitter, the game would be ending on November 28th 2024. After this point, the game’s services will be discontinued, and playing the game online will become impossible.
We have an important announcement for everyone playing the Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp app. Please see the following page for details as well.https://t.co/JGacPgXFyo pic.twitter.com/RHZt5u7SPU
— Pocket_camp (@Pocket_Camp) August 22, 2024
But this won’t actually be the end of the game itself.
Why? Because Nintendo’s decided to do something few other games as a service developers bother to do.
That being, they’re actually making an offline only version of the game! Yep, as the announcement points out, an offline only version of Pocket Camp is in development right now, and will have more info about it made available this October.
So yeah, it’s not technically the end of the game. You’ll still be able to play it locally, with all your save data carrying over as expected.
It just won’t be an online experience anymore, nor require an internet connection to use.
Regardless, what do you think about it? Are you disappointed to see Pocket Camp shut down as an online game? Will you still keep playing the offline only one when it’s made available later this year? What other Nintendo mobile games do you expect to see shut down in the coming months or years?
Leave your thoughts on all those things and more in the comments below, on social media, or over on our Discord server today!
Source:
Animal Crossing Pocket Camp Shut Down Announcement (Twitter)