The footage that was leaked from a new HoYoverse game bears a striking resemblance to the Animal Crossing franchise that Nintendo has developed.
There are rumours going around that the developer of Genshin Impact has been working on a copycat version of Animal Crossing for quite some time.
Now, footage that is making its way around the internet has only served to fuel the rumours even further, particularly considering that HoYoverse appears to be offering the ideal crossover.
It appears that this Animal Crossing parody could be the icing on the proverbial cake for HoYoverse, which has already managed to keep viewers thoroughly engaged with Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail.
In 2001, Animal Crossing made its debut with an improved version of the Japanese video game Dobutsu no Mori, which literally translates to “Animal Forest.”
This version was released for the GameCube. Following that, the franchise was able to successfully capture the attention of its target audience with the release of Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS.
Animal Crossing received three additional follow-up games as a result of the franchise’s growing popularity.
These games were Animal Crossing: City Folk, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The latter game was the first title in the franchise to release on the Nintendo Switch.
Twitter users have reported seeing footage from the upcoming game that will be released by HoYoverse; however, the precise origins of the video cannot be established.
A chibi-style character, rendered in the classic art style of Genshin Impact, can be seen in the clip that lasts one minute traversing an open field in order to cut down trees.
There are a lot of aspects of the game that appear to be directly inspired by Animal Crossing: New Horizons, specifically.
This includes the chopping animation and the crafting interface, among other things. Even the animation for displaying a crafted item at the workbench is exactly the same as the one that is supposed to be the source material.
The only difference, as some viewers have pointed out, appears to be that the camera in the HoYoverse version can be moved around, whereas the camera in Animal Crossing has always been fixed. In point of fact, there are a few features of Animal Crossing that could change.
HoYoverse Could Outdo Nintendo With Its Own Version Of Animal Crossing
Indeed, it appears that a significant number of comments are based solely on the camera mechanism. Naturally, the game appears to be a little clumsy in its early stages and is not even close to being polished in any way.
However, if it follows the same format as HoYoverse’s other properties, it would presumably be a free-to-play game just like Animal Crossing, which would put it ahead of Animal Crossing in one important area.
It is not a secret that Nintendo charges a substantial price for the most recent Animal Crossing game; consequently, as inflation continues to have an impact on a great number of countries all over the world, the possibility of a free Animal Crossing doppelganger is difficult to resist.
Fans who have remained loyal to Nintendo over the years and who will continue to do so must be wondering whether the multibillion-dollar company will pull a fast one on the next Animal Crossing game if HoYoverse goes the full distance with this prototype. Hopefully, that is not the situation.
However, as Nintendo continues to generate profits with other franchises, such as Mario and Zelda, which are not in the same position as Animal Crossing in terms of the likelihood of being replaced, the possibility is always present.
