As the world is on pause and everyone is staying home during the coronavirus pandemic, consumers have found ways to live their own “digital lives”. Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out about a month ago, and everyone across generations has been actively playing. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has no disturbing graphic content, no time limit, and let its users create their own digital lives; and as everyone is staying home, this is a perfect opportunity for users to replicate the life they were having before the pandemic from their couch. Animal Crossing: New Horizons goes beyond creating a virtual life, by allowing its users to create communities by playing with friends and other users. They also have their creativity extended to design their own outfits. In fact, users can create their own designs, wear them throughout their game, and also share it with other users using a QR code. The animal crossing community has been so involved with this that Kara Chung, an active animal crossing user created an Instagram account and showcases outfits that other users submit, with the hope to be published on her Instagram account. This fashion moment created by the game emphasizes this parallel dimension and allows the users to have the freedom we currently do not have. This could be an opportunity for fashion brands to create business opportunities through the platform. As we saw on Fortnite, skins revenues are reportedly around $300 million a month, and Nike made moves by releasing Jordan sneakers only available on the game; Animal Crossing: New Horizons could take a similar turn. The streetwear brand Happy99 sought the opportunity and designed their own outfits on the platform, and saw a 30% increase in product sales after releasing those digital assets.
Credits: Can Fashion Cash In on the Animal Crossing Craze?, How “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” Became the Ultimate Fashion Outlet
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