Animal Crossing: New Leaf has Sold 7.38 Million

Katsuya Eguchi and Aya Kyogoku held a panel during GDC this week to discuss the impact of Animal Crossing within the 3DS market.

"How to Turn a New Leaf at the Animal Crossing" was the title of the session, highlighting the goals the team had when crafting New Leaf.

The first part covered the key elements of Animal Crossing, how there was some concern that too much change could derail what made the hugely successful DS entry a success when it came to putting together the 3DS installment. New Leaf was created in mind to rethink the conventions of the series, trying to blend more real-life elements with the virtual setting on the 3DS console - to "harmonize real-world relationships."

The 3DS version was no longer closed to friend codes either, with the use of live "Best Friends", social image sharing and Happy Home data via StreetPass allowing fans to expand the community, and maintain the interest.

Kyogoku also confirmed that nearly half the team who worked on New Leaf were women, with Kyogoku originally being the only woman within the EAD group when first starting out.

Series producer Katsuya Eguchi also highlighted the strength of the game to date, having sold 7.38 million units so far. He believes that the franchise has the potential "ot just to evolve itself, but also the scope of the platform it was designed for."

Have you joined the Animal Crossing experience yet? What would you like to see in the series going forward?