Coping through current pandemic, you’re either one of two things—an avid player of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or someone who has heard of this game being mentioned constantly throughout social media. For the Animal Crossing players, you’ll be pleased to hear that you could finally get the chance to play the game for a living.
Hong Kong food chain Yummy House posted a job advertisement on Facebook looking for a ‘Gaming Commissioner’ to create an exclusive island for them. The chosen applicant will have 31 days to build the Animal Crossing island.
Other requirements include that the applicants have to be creative, have artistic skills, and has already played the game for over 100 hours. The benefits include being able to work from home for only 3 times a week (except the first week), with salary of HKD20,000 (USD2,580 or RM11,236) for the one-month post.
Source: Facebook
So far, the company has received 300 applications. 80% of applicants were from Hong Kong, but the rest came from all over the world, including the US, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Japan. Most of the applicants are also artists, graphic designers, or software designers.
“We started planning this in April. Because of the pandemic in Hong Kong, lots of people can’t go out, lots of companies are collapsing, and lots of workers are being laid off or furloughed. We thought, since so many people don’t have much to do, why don’t we provide this opportunity while doing some soft selling?” said Savannah Tang, a Senior Marketing Executive at Yummy House.
Tang also said the company will showcase aspects of the company on the island, such as its products, logistics, factories, and stores. She hopes that online interest will translate into real-life sales.
If Yummy House’s idea pays off, it would be interesting to see other companies attempt to adopt a similar marketing strategy within Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Malaysian food company myBurgerLab has also used the game to promote their brand by creating a myBurgerLab theme to a part of their island. They also had organised a contest where people would build their own versions of myBurgerLab on Animal Crossing, Sims, and Minecraft.
