After posting a teaser last week, Puma and Nintendo have revealed the first item in their Animal Crossing: New Horizons collaboration. As expected, it’s a pair of sneakers with major Animal Crossing flair.
In the reveal tweet, Nintendo announced that the entire Puma collaboration will be released on September 18. Though nothing else has been shown yet, the collection is expected to include three more pairs of shoes.
The new @PUMA x #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons collection is coming 9/18! pic.twitter.com/0WbfeyKkvl
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 30, 2021
The sneakers appear to have been designed with New Horizons‘ beachy color theme in mind, with several shades of green, blue, and tan decorating the tops and sides. They also feature depictions of several of the game’s villagers and characters on the sides and bottom, including Rosie, K.K. Slider, Stitches, and others.
The sneakers seem to be receiving mostly positive reactions on Twitter, with many Animal Crossing fans saying that they look pretty slick. Others have said that their coloring seems to be off, particularly in the “dirty-looking” off-white sections on the sides.
This isn’t the first time New Horizons has received merchandise. Thanks to its enormous initial popularity, the game has entire collections out at stores like Target and BoxLunch. The game itself has received fairly frequent free content updates since its release in March of last year, bringing additional characters, new in-game items, and new features to the island life simulator. Thanks to the success of previous merchandise, this likely won’t be the last time we see a real-life collaboration or collection based on Animal Crossing.
