Archivists are trying to chronicle Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ unforgettable first year
The challenge of documenting a virtual world
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“The serendipity of the time [
Animal Crossing: New Horizons] came out is ridiculous,” says Lex Roberts, curator of the UK National Videogame Museum’s
Animal Crossing Diaries. The project aims to capture “the cultural phenomenon that followed the release
of Animal Crossing … in March 2020, just as the world was transformed by the pandemic.”
New Horizons has been inextricably associated with COVID-19, with early reviews making mention of how much we all needed an escape as lockdowns and quarantines suddenly became our lives. As it became apparent that social distancing would be around for a long time, the game became the location of weddings, memorials, protests, and political campaigning, to name just a few.