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Lorilei Storm, an American who has lived in Ireland for the past decade, has posters supporting Joe Biden all over her front yard, however, not in front of her Dublin apartment, but the one surrounding her home in the popular game. from Nintendo Animal Crossing. .
“Campaign signs are not that important in the UK so I was really excited to find them in the game. I put up as many as I could,” said Storm.
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has introduced four different official signs to Animal Crossing, all of which users can download by scanning QR codes through the Nintendo Switch online app.
Animal Crossing has been used for everything from weddings to talk shows to virtual dating as it gained popularity amid global shutdowns due to Covid-19. The addition of campaign material marks a new frontier for the game and for the US presidential race.
The banners are the latest attempt by Biden’s campaign to make virtual inroads with voters at a time when many traditional campaign events are deemed unsafe due to Covid-19.
While Biden has relied heavily on digital reach this year, Donald Trump continues to hold rallies in person, insisting that doing so is “very safe” and mocking his opponents for “hiding on the inside.” For that same reason, Trump will not use Animal Crossing to get the vote, said Samantha Zager, a spokeswoman for his campaign.
“This explains it all: Joe Biden thinks he’s campaigning for Animal Crossing president from his basement,” he said. “The Trump campaign will continue to spend its resources campaigning in the real world with real Americans.”
Animal Crossing does not currently have any Trump-approved signs, but users can theoretically make their own using in-app customization tools. Nintendo did not respond to a request for comment.
Although many players were delighted to decorate their outfield with Biden posters, others were annoying at Nintendo for allowing politics to enter the escapist bubble that is Animal Crossing, Storm said.
“I can totally see where people are coming from and I don’t want to take my escapism off, but I also respect that some people say these issues are so important that they need to move digital,” Storm said.
For others, even Biden supporters, the move did not seem authentic. Eran del Castillo, a 25-year-old Animal Crossing player who has spent more than 350 hours in the game, compared the choice to Hillary Clinton’s infamous 2016 line encouraging people to “Pokémon-Go to the Polls”, which was mocked. as an example of the candidate clumsily trying to please younger voters.
“I think at this time, a lot of young people who play Animal Crossing have a perception of Biden and Harris as candidates that do not address many platforms that interest young people, such as student debt or the federal minimum wage,” del Castillo. said. “So it felt like, ‘Hey, we’re not going to address these concerns, but here’s some code to use in Animal Crossing.’
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