Nintendo fans recently got some worrying news about potential Animal Crossing: New Horizons in-game purchases, but it's too early to panic. Despite what the Animal Crossing ESRB rating might suggest, New Horizons' in-game purchases probably aren't microtransactions.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the first mainline Animal Crossing game since 2012's New Leaf, and the first Animal Crossing game on console since 2008's City Folk. Since 2012, fans have only had a few spin-off games, including Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp on mobile, to keep them busy, so the Nintendo community is understandably excited for a long-awaited return to form - especially after Nintendo delayed New Horizons from its original 2019 launch window into 2020. This promise of a new game in the series' usual format is exactly what made the news Animal Crossing: New Horizons' in-game purchases so concerning.

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While Nintendo has traditionally steered away from small in-game purchases on console - seemingly out of a desire to remain the "family-friendly" game company - its mobile games have shown its money-hungry side. Almost all of its mobile titles have microtransactions, loot boxes, and subscription models, including two separate Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp subscriptions that cost a combined total of more than $10 per month. Because of the Animal Crossing series' real-time, collection-based gameplay, it's reasonable for fans to assume the series could be Nintendo's entry point into the kind of anti-grind monetization seen in other simulation games.

A player in Animal Crossing standing next to a crafting table and making a flimsy axe.

In reality, though, there's a good chance the ESRB rating isn't referring to microtransactions. At launch, the ESRB ratings for Pokémon Sword and Shield also included in-game purchase warnings, but these only referred to the option for players to buy a Nintendo Online subscription via an in-game prompt. With the announcement of the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, Game Freak also added the option to access the Nintendo eShop through an in-game menu option, but no microtransactions of any kind have been added to either game.

Theoretically, Animal Crossing: New Horizons' in-game purchases could be different, integrating microtransactions into a major Nintendo title for the first time. But the more likely scenario is that, given Animal Crossing: New Horizons' multiplayer support, players will simply be able to purchase Nintendo Online subscriptions through the game. There may also be a situation similar to Sword and Shield's, where Nintendo introduces a DLC purchase option later on in the game's life, but for now, fans shouldn't worry too much about potential microtransactions in Animal Crossing's console return.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons will launch on March 20, 2020, on the Nintendo Switch.