It’s true that times are odd and quite tough right now, though that isn’t stopping some fellow Animal Crossing addicts. New Horizons released only a couple of weeks ago and the world is currently in isolation. Yet, a company has already tried an Animal Crossing work meeting and another person has set up a shop for real money on their island.
Many businesses across the globe are moving to Work From Home (WFH) initiatives to make sure their employees are safe during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. New digital policies and virtual meeting software are being tested, with plenty of experimentation for what is the most productive way to work from home. One Japanese company says ‘goodbye‘ to Zoom meetings and ‘hello‘ to Animal Crossing island meets.
A Livedoor News piece describes the company’s attempt at an Animal Crossing work meeting. The Editor-in-Chief at this business suggested the vibrant platform for a work meeting as an interesting way to boost morale and improve efficiency. They set up an in-game conference room using Animal Crossing furniture and used the text feature to communicate.
Yes… the Animal Crossing text chat purely to communicate.
Said meeting was followed by some office-place bug catching and fishing, coupled with some watercooler chatter.
Afterwards, the coordinator reported the pros and cons of using Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a virtual meeting tool. For your convenience, here are the breaking discoveries (in case you were wondering if KPIs were met):
Pros
- More fun than Skype, Zoom, and other alternatives.
- Communication is more candid between colleagues allowing for ideas to flow.
Cons
- Unable to send files and attachments.
- No private conversations.
- Remembering who’s who with custom usernames is confusing.
- Can’t get work done because the game is too distracting.
Elsewhere in the world, an entrepreneur is picking-up on an untapped field by selling custom prints on their Animal Crossing island. This Chinese player has set up a digital shop by scanning their mobile pay app QR codes into the game.
Players who visit their island can order the custom print, scan the code with their phone, and simply pay the shop-owner the nominal fee.
Whether this ingenious business venture is successful or not, we don’t know. What we do know is that it’s a smart way to try and make some extra money during a dark time, using probably the most played and talked about pass time in the world right now.
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