Why Animal Crossing: New Horizons Is More Popular Than Pocket Camp

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons is significantly more culturally relevant than Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, although that does not make much sense. More people have access to smartphones and devices than the Nintendo Switch, so it should logically follow that more Animal Crossing fans have gravitated toward the free phone app instead of the $60 game. Indeed, Pocket Camp has been downloaded nearly double the amount of times that New Horizons copies have sold, which is around 31.18 million. Still, Animal Crossing fans prefer New Horizons over Pocket Camp, begging the question of why the expensive and exclusive Switch title has managed to outperform the modest, inclusive app.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp came out in 2017 during the 8-year main series slump between Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Fans were thus excited to hop into the game to find new experiences collecting their favorite villagers and decorating their campsites. For a while, Pocket Camp served as a quaint yet serviceable replacement for those who had grown tired of New Leaf and were waiting for what was yet to come. They could fish, grow flowers, and collect Bells to buy items, all on their own time and schedule just as they had done in the other games.

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However, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp brought in new elements that would gradually change the game over time and fit it into the mold of many other phone app adaptations of beloved series. Additionally, its limitations as an app were apparent from the start, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf always remained an option with more depth for players during the wait for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Thus, when the Switch title finally