No paid DLC for Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Nintendo boss says it could be ‘unwholesome’

Nintendo overlord Satoru Iwata has revealed that Animal Crossing: New Leaf would not be getting any paid downloadable content. Apparently, it’s not “wholesome” enough an idea to fit in with the game’s philosophy.

“That sort of element is absolutely not being added,” he said in financial Q&A, as translated by Kotaku. He added that such monetization would affect the way the game is played, leading the “unwholesome” end result that Nintendo fears. The Wii game had free DLC, of course, but no extra purchases.  

Ironically, Animal Crossing is probably one of the most perfect avenues through which to introduce DLC purchases. The entire game is based on collecting stuff, enjoying annual events, and waiting around for new content to appear. It’s impressive that Nintendo is resisting exploiting that, but some could say it’s missing a trick by being so opposed.

That’s Nintendo, I suppose. Never quite doing what you would expect from anyone else.