Following the widespread acclaim and financial success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, there are numerous ways in which the franchise could develop in the form of subsequent installments. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has not received a significant update to its content since November 2021, which is just a few months away from the game's third birthday. When it was first released in March 2020, the game shattered all previous sales records for the franchise. In the year that followed, the game received consistent updates that provided players with new content and features, which gave the game a greater ability to endure. However, given that the stream of new content has come to an end, there are still unanswered questions about the future of the series as a whole as well as the potential of a subsequent game to build upon the foundation of success laid by Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Despite the fact that it is one of the best-selling games for the Nintendo Switch, there were still some aspects of the game that players felt were lacking and that could be improved upon in a sequel. The interactions between villagers are much less dynamic than they were in previous entries, and their personalities have a tendency to be very one-dimensional and superficial. Aside from the problems with the villagers, the new feature of being able to travel to random islands by taking part in Mystery Island Tours was a fantastic addition; however, it was too complicated to be used frequently, such as when a player was looking for specific villagers to invite back to their island. Even though Animal Crossing: New Horizons was, on the whole, a positive step forward, there is still a great deal that can be refined and perfected in a subsequent installment of the series.
It's Possible That Nintendo Will Remake One of the Franchise's Older Games. Even though it would be unheard of for the series, Nintendo could follow the prevalent trend in the industry and remaster one of the older Animal Crossing games with updated features in order to make it compatible with more recent gaming consoles. A move such as this could help fill the gap between Animal Crossing: New Horizons and a brand-new entry, as well as give players the opportunity to relive some of the franchise's more classic elements that they may have missed out on in more recent games. Older Animal Crossing games placed a greater emphasis on distinctive characters for the villagers, so a remake like this one, depending on how faithful it is to the original, might be able to address the complaints that there is not enough depth to the villagers' personalities.
Both the original Animal Crossing, which was released for the GameCube, and Animal Crossing: Wild World, which was released for the Nintendo DS, would make excellent candidates for remakes. In comparison to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, both of these games may appear to be rather simplistic; however, considering that they were many players' first experiences with the series, they exude a certain sense of nostalgia. Either of these games has the potential to be very successful in the interim between the release of a full-fledged sequel and the release of a full-fledged sequel, provided that they are remade to include modern quality-of-life mechanics and updated visuals.
It's Possible That Animal Crossing Will Become Open WorldIt would appear that the most recent trend in the industry is to give franchises the open-world treatment. Examples of this trend include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, both of which have brought their respective franchises into the genre. Even though it might seem counterintuitive for a series like Animal Crossing, which is all about settling down and building a town, to become an open world, the groundwork has already been laid for the franchise to go this route. This will be the next step in the franchise's evolution. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, which is currently available for mobile devices, and the Shopping Plaza on Harvs Island, which can be found in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, both provide hints as to how an open world might be implemented.
It's possible that in a future installment of the Animal Crossing series, players will be able to explore the world in a camper, meeting new people along the way, and bringing them back to their hometown village. A game like this could combine the traditional town-building structure of previous Animal Crossing games with the improved exploration aspect of Mystery Island Tours found in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This would result in a hybrid game with the best of both worlds. It seems very likely that Nintendo will find further use for these vehicles in future entries, possibly setting the franchise up to go open world with its next title, given the prominence of campers as the vehicle of choice in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and on Harvs Island. This is due to the fact that campers are prominently featured both in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and on Harvs Island.
