Tom Nook actually made it to the front page of the Financial Times. He must be so proud.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been making a killing for Nintendo, but that’s not why it made the front page of the famously business-focused Financial Times. It actually had to do with the recent change in Tom Nook’s lending policies.
Last week, the Bank of Nook changed the way it does business. Interest rates on savings deposits were cut and interest payments were capped in a move widely believed to combat the practice of “time-traveling” whereby players would simply skip their clocks forward to the end of the month in order to reap huge windfalls.
It also very closely mirrored moves made by the rest of the world to combat the coronavirus pandemic and spur economic activity. Since players could no longer live off their savings, it forced them to either speculate in the Stalk Market or go hunting for dangerous game like Tarantulas.
Back in the real world, central banks have made similar moves. Interest rates are back to historic lows as governments do what they can to fight the worst effects of the coronavirus recession.
“Now that the [Bank of Nook] has cut interest rates to near zero, their next logical step is quantitative easing. It’s essential that players try to hook their game up to their printers as it might start churning out money,” said Albert Edwards, a strategist at Société Générale in an interview with the Financial Times.
That probably won’t actually happen, but it’s interesting how Nintendo has taken action in order to manage the economy in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Interesting enough that even famous international newspapers will run the story on their front pages. You can read the original Financial Times article here.
Oh, and that fancy rug that Nook gave you for sticking with Nook Bank? You might as well sell it for 6000 bells. It’s not exactly great for a home’s decor.
Source: Nintendo Life, Financial Times
