[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nimal Crossing fans have been waiting for a new title in the series for years. It was said at one point that Nintendo planned on bringing the beloved IP to mobile devices. Nintendo recently had a financial results briefing, in which the company has reconfirmed the release of the Animal Crossing Mobile app for this fiscal year. The following information is an official translation from the financial results briefing in March.

Reggie President of Nintendo North America has recently made some statements for future Animal Crossing Games on Nintendo Switch. You can read his interview right here.

Tatsumi Kimishima (current Nintendo president) on promoting Nintendo IPs for the long term:

“As we continue to provide consumers with new surprises through the integrated hardware/software dedicated video game business with Nintendo Switch and other initiatives, our thoughts regarding expanding the number of people who have access to Nintendo IP stem from our desire to provide opportunities for consumers to experience Nintendo IP (including in situations outside the dedicated video game business) and take an interest in our dedicated video game business. Of course, we are hoping to profit from businesses using our IP through licensing fees and other sources. However, our main goal is to generate synergy with the dedicated video game business.

We hope that the theme parks will be a place where anyone, including children and families, will be able to get together to enjoy a variety of fun experiences. They will be a valuable place where children, adults, and the elderly can have fun experiencing Nintendo IP together. For these reasons, we think that connecting businesses using our IP to new offerings in our integrated hardware/software business will lead to expanding our business as a whole and are planning from that perspective. Our attitude toward the visual business is exactly the same. We believe that even consumers who would not normally be interested in games will be able to experience Nintendo IP with others, such as family and friends. In this way, we consider opportunities for consumers to enjoy experiencing Nintendo IP to be extremely valuable and will continue to actively develop our visual and theme park businesses.”

Kimishima on Animal Crossing Smartphone app for mobile devices:

“As I discussed during the previous Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we will release the Animal Crossing application for smart devices during this fiscal year. We will announce the specific release date before we commence distribution”

Source: Nintendo PR