The United States is currently undergoing the worst political cycle since I was born, but it’s about to get weirdly more festive. Kinda Funny Games, a popular group that discusses video games via video and podcasts, is teaming up with Animal Talking host and writer Gary Whitta to debut the “official Biden Island” in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It is an island presumably created by the Joe Biden campaign to drum up support for and interest in the presidential candidate ahead of the U.S. general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller and Whitta will debut Biden Island on Friday, Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET on Twitch.
I’m co-hosting this with Greg and couldn’t be happier about it. GO JOE! https://t.co/gNfoSTvqD9
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) October 15, 2020
It stands to reason that this will be a pretty breezy affair, as Animal Crossing: New Horizons probably isn’t the most effective platform by which to discuss police reform, race relations, and economic inequality. They might be able to have a half-decent conversation about the importance of preserving the environment though.
It will be interesting to see who exactly from the Joe Biden campaign will appear to talk with Miller and Whitta about Biden Island, as it seems pretty unlikely that Biden himself knows much of anything about the game. Although, it should be noted that this isn’t the first time Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been used as a political platform; a Japanese politician used New Horizons to communicate with voters in a video — and had to take it down because it violated Nintendo’s terms of service.
[Source]