Nintendo’sAnimal Crossing: New Horizonshas been a cultural phenomenon. It became thefastest-selling game on the Nintendo Switchin just a few days, and since then the Internet has been inundated with players posting their in-game creations alongside companies looking to market with custom designs. With the host of fluffy, lovable characters inAnimal Crossing, it would make sense for Nintendo to capitalize with some plushies.
Luckily for fans of the franchise, it seems the self-made stuffed animal company Build-A-Bear Workshop is on a similar wavelength. On Tuesday, a Twitter user named kkmaple posted a message saying that a collaboration between Build-A-Bear andAnimal Crossingwould “be a cultural reset,” and yesterday the official Build-A-Bear social media account responded saying, “We’re taking notes…”
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This vague message is no guarantee that any crossover plushies are in the works, but it does seem like an awfully specific topic to jump on board with out of nowhere — especially given kkmaple did not tag the Build-A-Bear account in their original post. The idea would not be unprecedented either considering Build-A-Bear has had a long-running deal to makePokemonstuffed animals, and recentlyrevealed a Jolteon plushiecoming to stores.
If nothing else it would make perfect business sense to kickstart the production ofAnimal Crossingplushies, as there is no shortage of characters to turn into stuffed animals based on both recurring NPCs like Isabelle andfan-favorite villagers like Raymond. With how much the gaming community has fallen in love withNew Horizonsduring the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, no doubt Build-A-Bear would push a lot of merchandise if this comes to fruition.
Animal Crossing’s popularity has been met by some niche forms of backlash as of late, withPETA protesting the in-game museumrun by Blathers and drawing a fair amount of attention on social media in the process. However this is clearly the outlier considering how close-knit a community has been built through the new Switch title’s many mechanics like turnip stocks.
In factAnimal Crossinghas become a substitute for some things that have become harder to find in the midst of the pandemic, with one in-game talk show becoming so popular it will now haveactor Danny Trejo as a regular guest. With a game that has that much reach, kkmaple has a point about how massive it would be if Build-A-Bear decided to expand its Nintendo business dealings.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis available now on the Nintendo Switch.
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