Nintendo partners with Sanrio to launch character residents and items to Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Nintendo’s hit video game title, Animal Crossing: New Horizon has welcomed a cast of Sanrio residents and themed items through the launch of the Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Pack.

Launched to sell out success last week, the pack includes all six amiibo cards from the unique Sanrio Collaboration Series, all of which are compatible with Animal Crossing: New Horizons and arriving with a different theme inspired by various Sanrio characters.

After updating the game to the latest version, players will be able to tap the Sanrio amiibo cards to their Nintendo Switch to unlock exclusive posters to order in-game, along with furniture and  fashion items inspired by the Hello Kitty, Pompompurin, Cinnamonroll, My Melody, Little Twin Stars and Kerokerokeroppi series.

Players can use these items to dress up and decorate their island to the theme of their favourite Sanrio characters. Six exclusive residents matching these various themes can be invited to the player’s campsite and can move to the player’s island. These residents can also be invited to Harvey’s island for a photo shoot session. 

Sanrio is also bringing back the friendship, kindness and cuteness of its characters to the Animal  Crossing: Pocket Camp mobile game. Beginning 26th March through to 10th May, the Sanrio Characters Collection 2021 in-game event will bring Sanrio character themed items to players’ campsites.

From 26th March through the end of the in-game event, Sanrio additions will include a free Sanrio Characters clock in the game by tapping the gift icon. One new Sanrio themed fortune cookie will be available for purchase at the Fortune Cookie Shop, with each cookie providing players one of ten different Sanrio items.

Players will also be able to craft Sanrio gifts to send to their friends, which randomly reward friends with one of several special Sanrio character-themed uchiwa fans. There are a variety  of fans to collect featuring popular Sanrio characters, including Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty,  Pompompurin and more. 

BlackMilk partners with Nintendo to launch Super Mario and Animal Crossing: New Horizons collections

The globally loved Nintendo franchises, Super Mario and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are finding a new footing in the fashion world, thanks to a partnership between the video game maker and apparel specialist, Black Milk Clothing.

Renowned for its unique take on licensed collaborations, BlackMilk Clothing is offering gaming fans a new way to express their love for both Super Mario and Animal Crossing through the brand’s signature styles, including leggings, dresses, overalls, and more.

BlackMilk x Super Mario will be the first of the two collections to be released, going live at 7am on October, 6th 2020. The collection features some of the franchise’s favourite characters, including Princess Peach, Yoshi, Bowser and, of course, Mario. It will also feature the game’s iconic power-ups and numerous items. Active wear and unisex pieces are on offer alongside a variety of fun outerwear styles. 

Meanwhile, customers will then be treated to an entirely new collection when BlackMilk x Animal Crossing: New Horizons is released a week later, landing at 7am on October 13th, 2020.

Fans of the Nintendo Switch game will be able to shop a range of pieces featuring their favourite islanders and collectibles. Alongside BlackMilk’s signature bold printed styles, the collection includes designer pieces made with specially created fabrics, such as a unique flocked Timmy and Tommy design. 

BlackMilk is expecting both collection ‘to be hugely popular, with some limited edition pieces likely to sell out fast.’

Molang goes for millennials and Gen Zs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons in game partnership

Molang has launched five in-game looks on the video game smash hit, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as part of the brand’s global strategy to reach millennials and Gen Z audiences.

A collection of five Molang player accessories are now available in the official shop, with free download friend codes hosted on Molang’s official Facebook , Instagram and YouTube channels. Millimages has confirmed that it will be supporting Molang’s apparel licensees in the promotion of their collections through Animal Crossing.

The new tie-up continues a busy period for the brand – which is represented in the UK and Ireland by Licensing Link Europe.

A Molang music album has notched up significant success on streaming platforms including Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music and Amazon. The ten songs are streamed over 40,000 times per month on Spotify and 20,000 times on Apple Music. Millimages supported the launch with nine animated video clips which are available on the Molang YouTube channel and have received more than one million views.

Meanwhile, Molang filters on Facebook and Instagram have proved popular since their launch in April and a reported 5,000 pictures are taken per week, generating more than 300,000 impressions.

The company is also busy developing an English version of the Molang website for Q4 2020, which launched in French in May 2019 and welcomes 10,000 visitors per month.

Lise Cosentino, director of marketing and communication at Millimages, said: “Molang may have found international fame on the internet, but we’re extending its rapid digital growth by tapping into the lifestyle activities our target audiences enjoy – including gaming. Partnering with Animal Crossing: New Horizons further demonstrates that Molang is more than a hit TV animation.”

Ian Wickham, director at Licensing Link Europe added: “This further emphasises the support that Millimages is providing, to ensure Molang continues to build at pace with the core consumers and in the right places.

“The dynamics of brand engagement have changed significantly since the start of the year and so to be involved with one of the stand out successes – Animal Crossing: New Horizons – highlights the appetite Millimages have for the properties’ success.”

 

Molang goes for millennials and Gen Zs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons in game partnership

Molang has launched five in-game looks on the video game smash hit, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as part of the brand’s global strategy to reach millennials and Gen Z audiences.

A collection of five Molang player accessories are now available in the official shop, with free download friend codes hosted on Molang’s official Facebook , Instagram and YouTube channels. Millimages has confirmed that it will be supporting Molang’s apparel licensees in the promotion of their collections through Animal Crossing.

The new tie-up continues a busy period for the brand – which is represented in the UK and Ireland by Licensing Link Europe.

A Molang music album has notched up significant success on streaming platforms including Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music and Amazon. The ten songs are streamed over 40,000 times per month on Spotify and 20,000 times on Apple Music. Millimages supported the launch with nine animated video clips which are available on the Molang YouTube channel and have received more than one million views.

Meanwhile, Molang filters on Facebook and Instagram have proved popular since their launch in April and a reported 5,000 pictures are taken per week, generating more than 300,000 impressions.

The company is also busy developing an English version of the Molang website for Q4 2020, which launched in French in May 2019 and welcomes 10,000 visitors per month.

Lise Cosentino, director of marketing and communication at Millimages, said: “Molang may have found international fame on the internet, but we’re extending its rapid digital growth by tapping into the lifestyle activities our target audiences enjoy – including gaming. Partnering with Animal Crossing: New Horizons further demonstrates that Molang is more than a hit TV animation.”

Ian Wickham, director at Licensing Link Europe added: “This further emphasises the support that Millimages is providing, to ensure Molang continues to build at pace with the core consumers and in the right places.

“The dynamics of brand engagement have changed significantly since the start of the year and so to be involved with one of the stand out successes – Animal Crossing: New Horizons – highlights the appetite Millimages have for the properties’ success.”

 

Has Nintendo cracked the next big gaming IP amid the Coronavirus pandemic?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become the fastest-selling single title on Nintendo’s Switch to date, selling more copies in its first week of sale than the combined launch sales of all previous Animal Crossing games in the franchise.

Reports are already coming in that the title is ‘3.5 times bigger than the last game in the series, 2013’s Animal Crossing: New Leaf on Nintendo 3DS.’ The title was previously the biggest launch for Nintendo’s franchise.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a non-linear life simulation game played in real-time. Each player assumes the role of a customisable character who moves to a deserted island. The open world game then allows players to explore the island as it develops into a community of animals.

Not only is the game one solution to maintaining communication and world-exploration social distancing, but also carries the potential to be one of Nintendo’s next big franchises. Video games analysts already expect New Horizons to be shipping over 12 million games in the next few months, and that is not accounting for digital downloads.

Benji Sales, an independent video game analyst, wrote on Twitter:

“Animal Crossing New Leaf was the previous best-selling Animal Crossing game, hitting over 12 million sold lifetime. Whatever your optimistic sales expectations for Animal Crossing New Horizons launch sales were, I can already tell you it’s too low. Holy hell, HUGE opening incoming.”

Digital download numbers – which Nintendo does not share externally – are tipped to be vast, particularly considering the concerns around the COVID-19 virus that has seen the UK Government recommend self isolation measures across the country.