(Warning: This blog has me ranting about the closure of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, gacha games and online gaming servers in general. Please take care before reading on.)
Well, I never thought this would happen. Today’s the day (on American Thanksgiving of all things!) where Nintendo shuts down yet another mobile game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Unlike all the other Nintendo mobile games they release, not only this was the only Nintendo mobile game I played, I played it since DAY 1!
When I first get the in-game notification about them shutting down back in August, I thought it was a bad prank on their part as I know the game is pretty successful. It was so unreal, I had to go look at their subreddit (yes the mobile game has their own subreddit) page on Reddit to see if I’m not the only one who received their message. It turns out that everyone got the message and are now upset that the game they spend hundreds of hours (and cash) into, is shutting down. Reading those posts in that subreddit made me feel sorry for them.
Now I know everyone has mixed options of mobile games as they’re mostly low grab, time wasters that’s out for your money and are awfully addictive. I agree with that. Then you’re wondering why Nintendo would even go on this route in the first place?
It’s mainly because in 2012, the WiiU flopped. So they had to find way to make money and stay relevant. Having mobile games was one of them. That’s how we got Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Mario Run!
Then in 2017, they release the Switch and it made them millions! So, now there’s no need for mobile games. So one by one, Nintendo started shutting down the mobile games (which made those who actually played the games, very upset) and it wasn’t for long until Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was the next one to go. What a shame as this was the only Animal Crossing game that I actually played on a daily basic!
When I first played it back in late 2017, I was burned out of Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS as I unlocked all the things in the game and feel like I can’t do anything else in the game (besides completing the museum by catching those rare, hard to get bugs that I could never do and get all the statues for the art gallery). At the same time, I was too busy with school (as I was in university) to even play New Leaf. So having a mobile version of my favorite series on my iPhone was great!
However when Pocket Camp first came out, it was boring. It was because the only thing you did in the game is you do tasks for the villagers and you get rewarded with stuff when you complete them. For some, this was enough to turn them off from the game. But for people like me, I like this it was a simple routine of my day as the tasks were simple and doesn’t take too much time of my life.
Then the moment they introduce fortune cookies in 2018, that’s when the infamous loot box mechanic (that everyone hates so much) comes in. Where if you want the nice things in the fortune cookie, you have use Leaf Tickets (the in game currency) to buy them. While you can earn Leaf Tickets in the game, you don’t earn that much. You can if you buy them with ACTUAL MONEY! That’s where the gaming addiction problems kick in. So in other word, Pocket Camp became a gacha game.
It made me sad to see people who lose hundreds and thousands of dollars in these gacha games, just to get this one, super rare item that you NEED in order to make this game you’re playing better! And it’s randomized too, which means you need to keep spending and spending until you get what you want! Then I read horror stories of parents whose bank accounts vanished overnight because their kid used them for a gacha game in order to get the item they want!
Various governments are getting into mobile gaming companies’ butts because of how addicting they are. It’s so bad that several of them, actually end up banning these gacha games! I found it crazy that Belgium (a small European country), actually BANNED Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for being a gacha game! Like, the game won’t even work if you try to play the game on your phone when you’re visiting the country!
Funny thing is that despite all that, I still play the game with no issues. Yeah, the game likes to taunt me with the new shiny fortune cookies, every time I open the game (which is one of the few reasons why people stop playing the game). But even with that, I don’t feel like I need them. Yeah, the furniture and clothes looks nice on my character and on my camp grounds, van and cabin, but do I need them? And do I need them NOW? Probably not, just spend my dailies and hop out for the day.
I think having self-control when it comes to gaming, helps. It was probably why I was never temped in using real money in order to get Leaf Tickets so I can get the nice, rare things that the fortune cookies have. I feel like its common sense for most. But for others, it’s not and that makes me sad that a small, cute game like this can be addicting and is the reason why you have financial issues.
As the result of the loot box mechanic, Pocket Camp made Nintendo millions! But even then, it’s not enough to save the game from shutting down. I’m going to guess that too many people got sick and tired of the gacha game and decide to bail out. Or that it cost money to run mobile services as the game has been out for 7 years! Or that maybe because Nintendo wanted to focus on the upcoming Switch successor that’s coming out next year (which as of today, we STILL don’t know its actual name will be, what it looks like and how much it cost), so anything that isn’t the successor is cut for time and money. Oh well, I guess?
Despite the issues the game has, I had fun doing the tasks and the events that the game has. I remember in the early years of the game, they used to have month long events where if you do the tasks by the end of the month, you get a cut screen with you and the special characters. I found that cute and I took screenshots on my phone, which I still have to this day.
I’m also going to miss the social features, where if you want to be part of the events (but have no time), you can get someone to do it for you! Even if they were offline, you can still help them out complete the task for the event! Then there was the trading that I loved. I’m going to miss that too.
Now I know that Nintendo is planning to have an offline version of Pocket Camp, (called Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete) which they will release 5 days after they shut down the original game. While they’ll keep most of the stuff from the original game to the completed version and the save data that is linked to your Nintendo Account, however they’ll get rid some of features such as friend features that made this game tolerable.
And that it’s going to cost $20 to buy the full version of the game. While it’s nice for some who want to keep playing the game, I think I’m good with leaving the game on the day it shut down, as I don’t have a job or an income that allows me to spend on nice things. But I do have a Nintendo Account that has the save data in case I decided to come back and pay for the full app. However, I got until June 1, 2025 to do so or my data for Pocket Camp will be gone forever!
But even with the offline version available, but thanks to Pocket Camp shutting down, I have a new fear unlocked on mobile games shutting down.
If anyone browsed on my Pokémon Interest subpage, knows I have been playing Pokémon Go since day 1. Like, I play the game daily where I catch, collect Pokémon, go to the Poke stops for the items and send out gifts to the various users that I “befriended” on the Internet. And unlike Pocket Camp, I did spend some real money in the game for Poke-coins, the in-game currency. I mainly use the coins to increase my inventory spaces and remote raid tickets, back when you can use them unlimited. Well before they nerfed the remote raid tickets usage in 2021 and I stopped buying Poke-coins completely in 2022 when they jacked up the prices for the remote raid tickets.
Like Pocket Camp, Pokémon Go made Niantic (the studio developer who made the game) tons of money and has no signs of slowing down. But now I know that one day, they’re going to announce that Pokémon Go is going to shut down. Like, what’s going to happen to the (over) 2,000 Pokémon that’s in my inventory space? Or my character that I have since day 1 and the metals that I earned from attending the European Poke Festival that I went with my mom in Germany back in 2019? How would I do my walks now since this game is the only way I go out of the house!?
I dread the day they announce the game’s closure and the huge backlash that Niantic is going to get, as this isn’t the first time they did some questionable things to the game (which happens, a lot). I think it’s going to get ugly and I might actually CRY when that day happens!
But that a future problem for me to deal with.
For now, how about I show you the picture of my first day playing Pocket Camp and my last day playing the game. Yeah, the game is a gacha game, but it was nice game for me to do tasks. It’s not much, but it could’ve been worst. MUCH WORST!
So long Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. It was nice while it lasted. At least I have some storage space on my phone again once I delete the app.