Game Developers Conference announced that Nintendo will be present to explain the machinations and design process behind Animal Crossing: New Horizons at this year’s conference, which runs from March 16-20, 2020. Coincidentally, the date GDC 2020 ends also happens to be the release date of the latest installment of the life simulator.
The conference session will last one hour and will be hosted by producer Hisashi Nogami and director Aya Kyogoku. Previously, Nogami attended GDC 2018 to discuss how Nintendo invented the Splatoon series, including its world, style, and the changes going from Splatoon to Splatoon 2. That session can be viewed on Youtube here.
The conference session will delve into the concepts fundamental to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and how design philosophies that have been a part of the franchise since the beginning have evolved to fit with the times and changes in the world. It will also go over how they are implemented in the latest title.
Nintendo has had a busy week with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Just yesterday, it held a Direct where it showed off the Airport and postcards, the ability to terraform the island, how there is some measure of progression with the Mileage system, and local multiplayer with four friends. Despite being a slow life sim, there are big changes in this game that reflect modern times, and these are likely to be touched upon in the upcoming GDC talk.
Game Developers Conference 2020 will be held from March 16-20, 2020. The Animal Crossing: New Horizons talk will be held on March 18 from 9-10am PT. The game itself will release on March 20, 2020.
