Big Change for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp -- What You Need to Know

When Nintendo announced over the summer that it would be shutting down online service for its mobile game Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp on Nov. 28, fans of the game were told they'd be able to continue playing offline in a mode the company was working on.

What that offline mode looks like has now been made clear: It will be a new mobile game called Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete that debuts a few days after Pocket Camp decamps, on Dec. 3. The bad news for players? It won't be free.

The game will cost $20, but at least until Jan. 31, it will be reduced to $10. In an FAQ, Nintendo explained that the price will be a one-time fee and that players will be able to transfer their saved games, including items they've collected and friendship levels with animals. "Please note that you cannot transfer and use leaf tickets," the FAQ states. Leaf tickets are in-game currency in the original game that could be purchased with real-world money.

Moving data over to Pocket Camp Complete will require linking a Nintendo account to Pocket Camp in order to get the option to transfer.

The company says that it will release new items and create events for the new version of Pocket Camp but that some events from the online version won't return, such as the Sanrio Characters Event. Market Camp and Gifts won't be available in Pocket Camp Complete, but there will be a way to play with friends via QR codes and Camper Cards.

When it was released in 2017, before the pandemic-era phenomenon of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pocket Camp was a hit, with 15 million downloads in its first six days. In 2019, Nintendo rolled out a Pocket Camp Club paid service for the game.