Animal Crossing: New Horizons took on an island setting to shake things up, says the dev team

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a number of new features and changes compared to previous installments, including the move to an island setting. In an interview with Verge, New Horizons director Aya Kyogoku explains what brought about the location shift.

“When we thought about changing those relationships between the user and the animals, we thought, ‘Well, what if we take away the village?’ Putting the player on a deserted island is the solution we came up with.”