Skip to main content

Animal Crossing mobile game delayed again, will be released later this year

The Animal Crossing mobile game that Nintendo had planned to launch early this spring has been pushed back to an unspecified point in 2017. This is the second delay for the game — the first one for mobile devices — which was pushed into 2017 late last year.

The information comes via an earnings report from Nintendo, which stated that Animal Crossing is now planned to launch next fiscal year. That period begins April 1, meaning that the wait could be negligible. It doesn’t appear that performance or design problems are to blame for the move, but rather that Nintendo wants more time for Fire Emblem Heroes and the Android version of Super Mario Run to breathe.

Recommended Videos

Nintendo has given very little concrete information on the mobile version of Animal Crossing thus far, but has said the game “will be connected with the world of Animal Crossing for dedicated gaming systems.” With no game announced for the Switch thus far, this likely means connectivity with Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS. Nintendo also said that it would feature “more prominent game elements” than the social application Miitomo, which is similar in some design aspects to the Animal Crossing series.

Mobile devices seem like the perfect fit for Tom Nook and his friends. It will allow players to control certain aspects of their towns for a few minutes at a time before going about their day. The series has thus far appeared on the GameCube, Wii, DS, and 3DS, with spinoffs on both the 3DS and Wii U.

The last two Animal Crossing releases haven’t exactly been met with the fanfare and acclaim that the series has experienced in the past. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer was called “boring” and “repetitive,” while the party game Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival was largely reviled and compared unfavorably to the Mario Party series.

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
All upcoming mobile games: 2024, 2025, and beyond
Nikki in blonde hair sitting in a field of flowers in a wedding dress.

Mobile gaming keeps getting better and better. While consoles like the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 Pro (and PC, of course) dominate gaming news and have the biggest library of games, more and more of the best upcoming video games are making their way to mobile devices.

No matter which of the best gaming phones you're playing on, there's certainly a new game on its way for you to pay attention to. Here's everything that's set to release in the next few months.
2024 releases
The games listed below either have 100% confirmed release dates or solid release windows that we expect them to hit this year. Anything that’s up in the air due to more vague launch predictions or previous delays will be listed under the following header.

Read more
Life-sim game inZOI finally gets a release date, but it’s a delay to 2025
A woman built in the Inzoi character creator. She has short brown hair and big eyes looking off to the left.

The developers behind inZOI announced a 2025 early access release date on Thursday despite assurances that the hyper-realistic life sim would still launch sometime this year.

Game producer and director Hyungjun “Kjun” Kim posted an open letter to the community on the inZOI Discord saying that the game will be coming out on March 28, 2025, instead of in late 2024 so that the developers can give the game "the best possible start."

Read more
Pokémon’s free mobile card game is nostalgic fun, but watch your wallet
A trading card battle on mobile.

What's sure to be mobile gaming's next big thing is here. Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is out now and it brings the classic tabletop deckbuilding game to your phone. It's a free app that lets players open booster packs, collect cards, and play a streamlined version of the card game. On top of that, it's full of social hooks and ways for players to show off their favorite cards. It's about as much of a slam dunk as you could imagine for a mobile game, to the point where I'm surprised it's taken The Pokémon Company this long to make it.

Nostalgia is an easy path to victory, but does that make for a good game? Based on my time with it so far, I can see some immediate appeal that's sure to keep me logging in consistently for at least a few weeks. It's the kind of free download that comes with a big red buyer beware, though. This is a game designed to vacuum up money in ways that can feel a bit uncomfortable. If you're the kind of person who gets impatient anytime you're presented with a timer, download it at your own risk.
Gotta collect 'em all
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket essentially looks to capture the full experience of the Pokémon trading card game and stuff it into a mobile app. In that sense, it's a success. As soon as I boot it up and create my account, it quickly throws a five-card booster pack my way that I tear it open by swiping the screen. All the excitement I felt as a kid doing the same with real packs flooded in instantly. Just as I did back then, I find myself marveling at the art. Classic cards from my youth appear here, including the elegant Hitmonchan card I treasured as a kid, but I'm just as enamored with the art I've never seen. When I pull a card that features a top-to-bottom art spread showing Digletts burrowing through the card, I'm hooked.

Read more