10 Real Reasons Why Popular Video Games Died Overnight

Animal Crossing's peaceful vibe must be partially what drove millions upon millions of players to the game during 2020’s lockdown(s). We were stressed, lonely and craving an escape, and there it was like a shining light beckoning us in.

Players were able to meet with friends they couldn’t see in real life, fill their endless empty evenings with simple tasks and challenges, feel like they were actually accomplishing something when they accrued their Nook Miles when all real-life progression was at a stand-still.

It’s this exact phenomena that was ultimately the game’s downfall. Not to say millions of people don’t still play Animal Crossing (myself included), but as our lives for the most part started heading back to normality we found that the gap in our hearts temporarily filled by the game was slowly being repopulated with other things.

With Nintendo now announcing that the upcoming 2.0 update and Happy Home Paradise DLC will be the last major updates the game will be receiving, it seems like a proper marker of the end.

Animal Crossing’s peak usership was always destined to hit a sharp downfall as some point, because we don't need a fake life now we’ve got the real thing! Essentially, the downfall of AC’s popularity was a marker of our lives beginning to improve.