Animal Crossing: New Horizon players can now decorate their islands with official Biden-Harris signs as part of the campaign’s larger effort to reach voters ahead of the 2020 election, according to The Verge.
Players can download four different sign designs in-game by scanning quick release (QR) codes through the Nintendo Switch Online app. Designs include two that feature the official Biden-Harris logo, one that features the “Jo” Pride logo and one that shows aviator sunglasses in red, white and blue.
To promote the virtual initiative, the campaign worked with gaming influencers who shared their gameplay with the signs.
“This is just the start of how we plan to engage players ahead of November as we’re already looking forward to rolling out more digital swag, voter education tools, and organizing efforts on Animal Crossing and other platforms,” Christian Tom, director of digital partnerships for the Biden campaign, told The Verge.
Animal Crossing became a lockdown hit after its latest game, New Horizons, launched on March 20. The game sold 11 million copies by the end of March, and an additional 1.6 million copies since then.
Appealing to gamers is one of many creative alternatives to in-person rallies and conventions for the Biden-Harris campaign. At the start of COVID-19 in March, Biden became the first Democratic candidate to hold a virtual town hall, a Facebook Live stream that amassed over 5,000 viewers.
Due to concerns over the pandemic, the Democratic National Convention was forced to pivot virtual via a mix of pre-recorded content and live streams from speakers’ homes. A total of 19.7 million people tuned in to the first night, down from 26 million in 2016, according to Nielsen data. The Biden campaign said 28.9 million Americans watched the DNC across television and digital platforms, including 10.2 million digital streams, as per Reuters.
