Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr Creative Commons
Gamers will now have a chance to support their presidential nominee by decorating their virtual islands with Democratic signs on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, The Verge reports.
Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his Vice President nominee Kamala Harris hope to catch more youth votes and appeal to a unique audience with the election just two months away.
After hosting a completely virtual Democratic National Convention, the Biden campaign continues to find new ways to gain votes in the virtual world.
“This is just the start of how we plan to engage players ahead of November,” Christian Tom, director of digital partnerships for the Biden campaign told The Verge. “We’re already looking forward to rolling out more digital swag, voter education tools, and organizing efforts on Animal Crossing and other platforms.”
SCOOP: The Biden-Harris campaign is rolling out official yard signs for Animal Crossing: New Horizons today. It's part of the campaign's broader initiative to meet voters where they are online. https://t.co/wQ0WkPfCGL
— Makena Kelly (@kellymakena) September 1, 2020
In the game, players can decorate and take care of their islands while meeting their “neighbors,” or other players. They can now put yard signs on their islands with the official Biden-Harris logo, Team Joe logo, the Joe Pride logo, and a sign with patriotic-colored aviator sunglasses.
The Nintendo Switch game made its debut around the same time shelter-in-place rules were set around the country. Since the release in March, millions of players have turned to Animal Crossing as a new way to keep themselves busy during quarantine.
By May, 11 million people were playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, according to The Guardian.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the first politicians to gain attention and support after using the Nintendo game to connect with players. She left players notes and visited their islands. Not too long after, she and her followers shared their love for the game on Twitter.
Tom told The Verge, “Animal Crossing is a dynamic, diverse, and powerful platform that brings communities together from across the world… As we enter the final campaign stretch towards November, this is one way we are finding new creative and innovative ways to meet voters where they are and bring our supporters together.”
Animal Crossing: New Horizons players can show their support and access the new yard signs in the game by scanning the design QR codes through the Nintendo Switch Online App.
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