We’re finally getting some news on the Animal Crossing Mobile game in the form of a Nintendo Direct. The Animal Crossing Mobile Direct will be available worldwide at 12 pm tomorrow in Japan – that’s late evening for the US (and early morning for Europe).
The pre-recorded presentation will last about 15 minutes and only include information on the upcoming Animal Crossing mobile game. You can watch via Nintendo’s YouTube channel.
Here are the US start times for the Animal Crossing Mobile Direct:
- Pacific – 8 pm
- Mountain – 9 pm
- Central – 10 pm
- Eastern – 11 pm
Nintendo has only recently jumped into mobile gaming development. The Animal Crossing mobile game would be their third release (Pokémon GO was published by Niantic). It was announced last year and was originally planned to launch earlier this year. It was delayed as we saw releases for Super Mario Run in 2016, and this year, Fire Emblem Heroes in February.
Fire Emblem Heroes is a great mobile spin-off game that effectively fit the signature turn-based tactical combat of the series onto phones and tablets (read our review). Animal Crossing’s wide appeal and daily life sim gameplay feel especially well suited to mobile devices.
Currently the Animal Crossing mobile game was been delayed into Nintendo’s next financial year, which ends March 2018. Presumably the Direct will give us an official release date, which could be as early as later this year, as well as the actual game title.
The most recent Animal Crossing titles were a pair of spin-offs for the Nintendo 3DS in 2015. Both Amiibo Festival and Happy Home Designer were given mixed reviews and not very well received. The last main game in the series was Animal Crossing: New Leaf in 2013, and it’s considered one of the best games for the Nintendo 3DS.
