Pocket Camp Club paid subscription service coming to Pocket Camp later this week

5 years ago Justin 9 Comments

We’re coming up on the second anniversary of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Nintendo has just made a big announcement about the game’s future, although you might not like it…

Starting later this week, Nintendo will introduce two new paid membership plans into Pocket Camp under the banner of the Pocket Camp Club! Yes, you read that correctly. The company isn’t offering up much information yet, but here’s what we know so far…

In the first membership plan, players will unlock the ability to appoint one of their favorite animals as a ‘camp caretaker’ to give them extra help around the campsite. This is quite vague, but we’re guessing this could mean automating the rewards from talking to campers or help with gardening.

With the second membership plan, players will receive fortune cookies and be able to store their furniture and clothing items in a new ‘warehouses’ feature. The first part of this plan about receiving fortune cookies is dead simple and makes sense for a subscription, but the warehouses feature asks a lot of questions.

Currently, there is no inventory limit for the number of furniture and clothing you can store in Pocket Camp, so one has to wonder why anyone would need a warehouse to store them in.

While this new service might seems strange, the concept isn’t completely unknown for Nintendo mobile games. The company’s most recent release Mario Kart Tour features a Gold Pass subscription for $5 USD per month that gives you free bonus gifts, gold challenges, and unlocks access to the 200cc race mode.

We don’t yet know exactly what the Pocket Camp Club plans will cost or what they will offer beyond the limited details above, but looking at the Mario Kart Tour’s Gold Pass could be a hint of what’s to come. There’s not long to wait though as full details of the service will be revealed on November 20th. We’ll be back then with everything you need to know about the Pocket Camp Club!

As for my own thoughts on the service, it’s definitely hard not to feel weary of what this could turn out to be. With the ever increasing Leaf Ticket items and the controversy surrounding Gulliver changes just a couple months ago, Nintendo needs to be careful with how far they push their player base into forceful monetization.

On the flip side though, there is potential for there to be a good deal here for players who already spend on Pocket Camp every month. If someone currently spends $10 a month on fortune cookies, and the plan offers $15 worth of fortune cookies with bonus features for a $10 subscription, that could be alright for many people.

We’ll just have to wait and see though as it could easily be a terrible value too. Not to mention the potential dangers of starting to lock features behind a paywall, especially if they turn out to be meaningful.

UPDATE 11/21: Want to see more on the Pocket Camp Club service? Check out our lengthy video tour of both plans here!

What are your thoughts on the Pocket Camp Club so far though? Would you consider paying a monthly fee for the game if it gave you enough perks? Let us know in the comments below — I’d love to get a discussion going over this surely controversial announcement!

(Photo credit to Polygon)

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp News