Animal Crossing mobile game delayed again, will be released later this year

By Gabe Gurwin Published January 31, 2017

The Animal Crossing mobile game that Nintendo had planned to launch early this spring has been pushed back to an unspecified point in 2017. This is the second delay for the game — the first one for mobile devices — which was pushed into 2017 late last year.

The information comes via an earnings report from Nintendo, which stated that Animal Crossing is now planned to launch next fiscal year. That period begins April 1, meaning that the wait could be negligible. It doesn’t appear that performance or design problems are to blame for the move, but rather that Nintendo wants more time for Fire Emblem Heroes and the Android version of Super Mario Run to breathe.

Recommended Videos

Nintendo has given very little concrete information on the mobile version of Animal Crossing thus far, but has said the game “will be connected with the world of Animal Crossing for dedicated gaming systems.” With no game announced for the Switch thus far, this likely means connectivity with Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS. Nintendo also said that it would feature “more prominent game elements” than the social application Miitomo, which is similar in some design aspects to the Animal Crossing series.

Mobile devices seem like the perfect fit for Tom Nook and his friends. It will allow players to control certain aspects of their towns for a few minutes at a time before going about their day. The series has thus far appeared on the GameCube, Wii, DS, and 3DS, with spinoffs on both the 3DS and Wii U.

The last two Animal Crossing releases haven’t exactly been met with the fanfare and acclaim that the series has experienced in the past. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer was called “boring” and “repetitive,” while the party game Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival was largely reviled and compared unfavorably to the Mario Party series.

Former Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Topics

Phones

Cracking your Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra screen could cost $639, so handle it carefully

Samsung's new numbers put an exact, and fairly painful, figure on just how much pricier.

Computer, Electronics, Tablet Computer

Cracking your foldable's screen has always been an expensive mistake, but Samsung just put an actual price on it this year, and believe me, it’s more expensive than I initially thought it would be.

The company confirmed official repair pricing for the entire Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup, and fixing the inner display alone can cost more than some budget phones do new. Given that more people are buying into the category, making these revised repair costs all the more important to know before you take the plunge.

Phones

I’ve waited far too long for Pixels to get this stupidly simple gesture

Just ship the double-tap-to-lock gesture already Google.

Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

Every time I switch from any Android phone to a Pixel, there's one small gesture missing that always annoys me. From a modern Galaxy phone or even a device from Xiaomi, I can double-tap an empty part of the home screen and immediately turn the display off. Samsung has offered a double-tap to turn off the screen since Android 11. On a Pixel, I still have to reach for the power button.

To be fair, Google isn't the only offender, and Motorola's stock Android phones, like the Razr Fold, also skip such a basic feature. But this might be changing soon. Android Authority has discovered updated code strings inside Android 17 QPR2 Beta 3 pointing to Google’s long-in-development double-tap-to-sleep feature. Better still, Google appears to have expanded it beyond the lock screen and onto the home screen, which is exactly where I want it.

Phones

Samsung could double down on foldables in 2027 with five new reported models

The wide-format Galaxy Z Fold 8 sold well enough to convince Samsung the shape deserves two phones of its own next year.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 foldable smartphone

Five different foldable phones in one launch cycle sounds like a lot, at least to me, but that’s reportedly what Samsung has planned for 2027. A new leak lays out a lineup nearly double the size of this year's three-phone spread.

The Korean giant apparently wants to double down on the wide-format design buyers apparently can't get enough of. Two of them could share the wide-format, passport-shaped design that broke sales records this year.