Nintendo asks businesses to keep politics out of Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Nintendo has released a list of guidelines businesses must adhere to when using Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

With sales of the Nintendo Switch game surpassing 26 million copies since its March release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has developed into something of a media channel for brands.

In October President-elect Joe Biden even launched his own island in the game in a bid to mobilise voters in the US election.

But Nintendo’s new guidelines ask businesses and organisations to refrain from bringing politics into Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The rules also state businesses must not financially benefit from the game in any way.

Users are allowed to offer custom designs and Dream Addresses to other players, as long as they ensure the content is family friendly.

“While our services and products are generally for personal use only, we understand there may be situations in which businesses and organizations would like to use or reference the Game in relation to their business,” Nintendo says.

“As such, we would like to share a few guidelines with those businesses, organizations, and anyone representing them, to preserve the experience for the millions of people enjoying the Game recreationally.

“If we see your activity is not following these guidelines or is damaging or having bad influence on the community, we may ask you to stop such activity or usage of our contents, and take appropriate actions, including prohibiting your future business usage of the Game.”

On Wednesday Animal Crossing: New Horizons was nominated for three prizes at The Game Awards 2020, including Best Game.

And today Nintendo launched an update which enables players to transfer Animal Crossing New Horizons save data between Switch consoles.

It also preps the game for a range of winter-themed events, including Turkey Day on November 26 and Toy Day on December 24.