By The Verge | Created at 2024-12-02 13:57:37 | Updated at 2024-12-04 09:05:05
1 day ago
/ The free-to-play version of Pocket Camp has shut down, but players can transfer their saves to the new app and keep playing.
By Andrew Webster, an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
Dec 2, 2024, 1:51 PM UTC
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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is making its return a little earlier than expected. The free-to-play mobile game shut down on November 28th after launching seven years ago, and Nintendo had plans to launch a new version that would allow players to transfer their campgrounds to a new app that cuts out the microtransactions but requires a one-time paid fee. Originally slated to launch on December 3rd, the paid app — called Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete — is available now on both iOS and Android, for a launch price of $9.99.
The new version is largely the same as the original, and will still feature seasonal events and all of the other content from the base game. The biggest changes are the welcome removal of microtransactions and the ability to play offline. But the paid app also introduces a number of gameplay additions, including a new location where you can hang out with K.K. Slider, and the option to import custom designs from the Switch game New Horizons into Pocket Camp Complete. Here’s how it works:
While you can start up a fresh game if you haven’t played before, Complete seems largely designed so that existing players won’t lose all of their campground progress for good, making it an interesting solution for an ongoing problem with mobile and live service games. Unfortunately, at launch the game seems to be having issues with save transfers, which Nintendo has acknowledged. “The issue may be occurring due to a high number of users attempting to use this service,” the company says. If you’re having issues, you can check out the support page right here. Players have until June 2nd, 2025 to transfer saves.
