Shigeru Ishiba, Japan’s former Defense Minister in the running for the country’s next Prime Minister, announced that his campaign would pause canvassing in-game via Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, players, companies, and organizations have found creative ways to utilize Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a tool for their advantages. Since its release, players have made recreations of popular television scenes and decorated islands as their favorite game locations, now visitable by other players thanks to the Dream Address addition to the game. As the pandemic continues to devastate the world, Monterey Bay Aquarium took to the video game to do in-game lectures and tours for those who were unable to visit real aquariums and museums. And a mayonnaise company even let Animal Crossing players donate rotten turnips for charity.
Even some political affiliations have been using New Horizons to their advantage. Previously, Shigeru Ishiba’s campaign team had announced his plans to canvass in the Nintendo game. Originally seen as a smart move due to New Horizons continuing to dominate sales, Ishiba planned to start an in-game campaign this Tuesday, where he would appear as “Ishiba-chan” and would visit players who put up his campaign posters on their islands. In the wake of current Prime Minister Abe’s announcement to step down due to poor health, current competitors in the running are looking for innovative ways to reach a broader demographic.
However, it would seem that using New Horizons for political activity would violate Nintendo’s Code of Conduct. Though, these policies seem to apply to Japan, and not Nintendo of America’s terms of use. Similarly, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris began advertising for the Democratic Party via Animal Crossing: New Horizons, releasing several downloadable signs as a way to reach young voters during the pandemic.
Nintendo’s Japanese policies state that in-game political activity including user-created content that is politically driven is not permitted. Because of this, Ishiba’s campaign decided to cancel its activities in Animal Crossing when it was brought to his team’s attention. Though, the plans have only been halted for the time being, and Nintendo is currently looking into the matter.
Ishiba is in the race for Prime Minister of Japan, leading the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. But upcoming elections aren’t the only way Animal Crossing has been used politically. In the past, New Horizons was utilized for Hong Kong Protests, where players spread pro-democracy art and “Free Hong Kong” messages to the rest of the world, but this resulted in a ban on the sale of Nintendo’s family-friendly video game in the country.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now for Nintendo Switch.
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