United States former Vice President presidential candidate Joe Biden is attempting to reach an all-new demographic by bringing his campaign's yard signs into Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While video games have become an outlet in which musicians and film directors can advertise their products to untold millions of players, it's decidedly rare that a presidential candidate has used the gaming medium to encourage voting.
That's not to say that candidates have not used video game-related platforms to broadcast their campaign. US President Donald Trump has his own Twitch channel where his campaign team live streams campaign events to over 130K followers. While Twitch is primarily used for streaming gameplay, electoral candidates and brands use the platform with different agendas. Superstars like Travis Scott have used video games directly to host free in-game concerts, and upcoming movies have integrated easter eggs into various video games to build hype for the film's release.
Now, Joe Biden's campaign team is reaching out to the millions Animal Crossing: New Horizons players in the US in an attempt to encourage younger voters (notorious for their poor voter turnout) to take part in this year's presidential election. The Biden campaign has launched four official Joe Biden yard signs which players can download and use on their islands. According to The Verge, the signs are a part of a broader initiative to meet voters where they already are: online. The signs can be downloaded using the QR codes above just like how a player would download any other player-created designs.
The 2020 general election is only a couple of months away, slated to take place on November 3, 2020. Candidates Joes Biden and Donald Trump will face off at the polls with the winner taking office in January 2021. While Donald Trump is taking a more traditional approach towards garnering voters, Biden's Animal Crossing: New Horizons signs show that his campaign is ready to take alternative routes to reach potential voters. If only Biden's campaign team could coax him into playing Animal Crossing on camera, as that would make for one interesting Twitch stream.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is only the beginning of the candidate x video game crossovers. Over the past couple of years, various groups that normally rely on different media and demographics have been dipping their toes into gaming to reach its broad - and growing - audience. In many cases, that approach seems to be working. If Biden does win the presidential election, gamers can expect to see an influx of political involvement in video games in 2022 and 2024, which could both improve youth voter participation and be many gamers' worst nightmare.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Source: The Verge