This year was bad, in so many different ways. It began with Australia on fire and continued with more global strife: a pandemic that’s caused mass death and an economic crisis, all of which has disproportionately impacted marginalized people. When large swaths of the world faced an unprecedented virus spreading, they were forced to spend more time at home, under government-mandated lockdowns, while essential workers took care of everyone’s needs.
People had nowhere else to go, so they headed into virtual worlds and stayed there. When
Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out in March, just as the pandemic lockdowns began in the United States, the game didn’t just feel like a luxury. It met a need. Nintendo sold more than 13.4 million copies in the first six weeks after