Animal Crossing and IKEA may launch a collab soon

4 days ago 4

Gifting my animal neighbor a Billy bookcase

Two IKEA catalogs next to each other, one normal and one themed after Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans believe there could be a collaboration brewing between the game series and IKEA. Speculation is swirling after a TikTok was shared on one of the Swedish furniture chain's official accounts, which showed the life simulation franchise's famous furniture leaf.

Neither New Horizons nor IKEA is a stranger to brand collaborations, so it's not out of the question that something could be in the works. Though crossovers that happen within the game often stay within the Nintendo family, as the recent Legend of Zelda furniture, brands like LEGO have also made their way into the game. In 2020, IKEA shared one of its catalogs reimagined with an Animal Crossing theme, so the furniture brand has been affiliated with the IP before. IKEA is also not averse to placing its objects into video games — there was an entire Sims 2 DLC themed around the store.

The TikTok shared by IKEA France both shows the Animal Crossing leaf and features sound effects from the original Animal Crossing. It even uses the hashtag #animalcrossing, which lends a bit of legitimacy to the post — if nothing else, it suggests that they know Nintendo would approve of the reference. The biggest question is, of course, whether a collaboration between IKEA and Animal Crossing is occurring in the first place. A close runner-up, though, is the question of what that collab would look like. Would it be a real-life crossover or in-game?

Either is feasible, though an in-game collaboration would arguably be the easier and simpler route for both companies. Unlike their statement after the 2.0 update (which later proved untrue), Nintendo has not explicitly stated that the recent 3.0 update will be the last one New Horizons receives. The game has received updates specifically dedicated to new items before, like with the Mario-themed set, so is it possible that something akin to that is around the corner? Or are players about to see Froggy Chairs at IKEA? Only time will tell.

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