(CNN)You may have seen Joe Biden campaign signs and yard banners around your neighborhood. Starting tomorrow, you may see them on your neighbor’s island in the video game “Animal Crossing: New Horizon” too.
“Animal Crossing” has been a huge hit for Nintendo, and the Biden campaign is attempting to capitalize on its popularity by campaigning directly on the platform.”Animal Crossing is a dynamic, diverse, and powerful platform that brings communities together from across the world,” Christian Tom, director of digital partnerships for the Biden campaign, said in a statement. “It is an exciting new opportunity for our campaign to engage and connect Biden-Harris supporters as they build and decorate their islands.”
There are four yard signs available supporting the Biden campaign.There are four yard signs available: a Biden-Harris logo, a Team Joe logo, a “Joe” Pride logo and an aviators image. The campaign told CNN the signs would begin to be seeded to a “few gamer influencers who will be sharing their gameplay with their audiences tomorrow.”It’s a unique partnership, but it’s not the first time a presidential candidate has used a video game to try and reach voters. Read MoreHillary Clinton’s campaign held an event at a Pokéstop in Ohio back in 2016. Pokéstops are areas where users in the game “Pokémon Go” could go to collect a free item.Clinton also referred to the app at a campaign rally. “I don’t know who created Pokemon Go, but I’d try to figure out how to get them to have Pokemon go to the polls,” she said.The Trump campaign is not currently offering yard signs in the game. Samantha Zager, deputy national press secretary for the Trump campaign, told CNN, “This explains everything: Joe Biden thinks he’s campaigning for President of Animal Crossing from his basement. The Trump campaign will continue to spend its resources campaigning in the real world with real Americans.”Animal Crossing gamers have, however, made custom designs in support of both Trump and Biden, although it appears that there are few dozen more designs with the search terms “MAGA” and “Trump” than “Biden.”
Not all the custom designs of Trump are asking for his reelection, some are just memes of his likeness.As of early August, Nintendo has sold over 22.4 million copies of “Animal Crossing,” which puts it behind only “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.”
Source: edition.cnn.com