Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp costs £18 after dropping free-to-play monetisation model

Nintendo will sell the upcoming paid version of its smartphone Animal Crossing app for £18 ($20) after the closure of its current free-to-play edition next month.

However, to start with, an introductory offer will see Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete sold for half price – £9 ($10) – for its first two months.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp’s current free-to-play version shuts down on 28th November, Nintendo announced this summer, after seven years of cosy campsite building and the selling of now-removed grubby gacha-style loot boxes, in-game currency and various subscriptions.

Nintendo will launch Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete shortly afterwards, on 3rd December, which offers no in-game purchases and the ability to play offline. Its half-price launch offer will run until 31st January next year.

In a press release on the new version, Nintendo states that players will be able to “retain access to a majority of the items and events” from Pocket Camp’s free-to-play version, with account progress transferrable – though only until 2nd June 2025.

Leaf Tickets, Tom Nook’s favourite currency for selling you premium items, the Pocket Camp Club subscription service and the ability to play with friends via online communication (such as selling items via a market box, and exchanging gifts) are all being discontinued.

New features for the Complete version include the fresh Whistle Pass location, where “friends and neighbours can enjoy activities including in-game live music performances”. Huh! Is KK Slider going to introduce Eminem and Snoop Dogg, a la Fortnite? It seems unlikely.

Events with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete will rotate on a four-year cycle, Nintendo said in a detailed video on the new version, above, meaning anyone hoping to collect all the app’s stuff will be kept busy until 2028. With a Switch 2 version of Animal Crossing still likely years away – are you tempted to give Pocket Camp Complete a go?

Philippa Warr recently recounted her own totally reasonable reaction to Nintendo’s email about the end of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, as a long-term fan who kept at the game for years longer than me.