Creativity at Play: Content-Creators and Micro-Entrepreneurship in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Cátia Ferreira; Carla Ganito; Soraia Gonçalves

doi:10.51698/tripodos.2026.59.03

Autors/ores

Cátia Ferreira Universidade Católica Portuguesa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0113-6634
Carla Ganito Universidade Católica Portuguesa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3321-2320
Soraia Gonçalves Universidade Católica Portuguesa https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9672-5535

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51698/tripodos.2026.59.03

Paraules clau:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, participatory culture, user-generated content, creative labor, micro-entrepreneurship

Resum

Digital games have evolved significantly since their emergence in the 1970s, offering users not only entertainment but also opportunities for creativity, entrepreneurship, and community building. This study explores these dynamics through a case study of Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) (Nintendo EPD, 2020), focusing specifically on a selected group of prominent content creators active on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, and TikTok. These individuals engage in practices that extend beyond gameplay, including streaming, digital design services, and fan-made merchandise. Drawing on a theoretical framework centred on participatory culture, platformization, and fan labour, the article investigates how ACNH (Nintendo EPD, 2020) supports hybrid models of creativity and monetization within platform economies. Based on qualitative methods —namely document analysis and semi-structured interviews— the study examines how in-game tools and community infrastructures facilitate expressive and entrepreneurial forms of engagement for this specific profile of players. While not representative of the broader player base, the findings offer insights into how digital games can function as ecosystems where creative labour intersects with micro-entrepreneurship.

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Los juegos digitales han evolucionado significativamente desde su surgimiento en la década de 1970, ofreciendo a los usuarios no solo entretenimiento, sino también oportunidades para la creatividad, el emprendimiento y la construcción de comunidades. Este estudio explora estas dinámicas a través de un estudio de caso de Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) (Nintendo EPD, 2020), centrándose específicamente en un grupo seleccionado de creadores de contenido destacados, activos en plataformas como YouTube, Instagram, Twitch y TikTok. Estos individuos desarrollan prácticas que van más allá de la jugabilidad, como el streaming, los servicios de diseño digital y la creación de productos derivados elaborados por fans. A partir de un marco teórico centrado en la cultura participativa, la plataformización y el trabajo de los fans, el artículo investiga cómo ACNH (Nintendo EPD, 2020) sostiene modelos híbridos de creatividad y monetización dentro de las economías de plataformas. Basado en métodos cualitativos —en concreto, análisis documental y entrevistas semiestructuradas—, el estudio examina cómo las herramientas del juego y las infraestructuras comunitarias facilitan formas expresivas y emprendedoras de participación para este perfil específico de jugadores. Si bien no es representativo del conjunto de la base de jugadores, los resultados ofrecen una visión de cómo los juegos digitales pueden funcionar como ecosistemas donde el trabajo creativo se entrecruza con la microempresa.

Descàrregues

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Biografies de l'autor/a

Cátia Ferreira, Universidade Católica Portuguesa

Cátia Ferreira holds a PhD in Communication Studies from Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Currently, she is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences, at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. She is a main researcher at CECC (Research Centre for Communication and Culture) and collaborating researcher at CETAPS (Centre for English, Translation, and Anglo-Portuguese Studies). Her research and teaching areas focus on media studies, in particular digital media: digital games, audiovisual and multimedia communication, and emerging strategies for content production, such as transmedia and cross-media.

Carla Ganito, Universidade Católica Portuguesa

PhD in Communication Sciences. Associate Professor and Coordinator of International Relations at the Faculty of Human Sciences of Universidade Católica Portuguesa (FCH- UCP). Carla Ganito is a main researcher at CECC where she coordinates the group on Digital Literacy and Cultural Change. She has been an MC member of the COST Action IS1404 - Evolution of reading in the age of digitization (E-READ). Carla Ganito lectures in the fields of digital communication, cyberculture, digital transformation. Her research has four main axes: mobile technologies, gender and technology, digital literacy, namely digital reading, and digital life and cultural change. From the most recent publications: (2018) Gendering old age: The role of mobile phones in the experience of aging for women, IGI; (2017) Gendering the mobile phone: A life course approach, in Digital Technologies and Generational Identity: ICT Usage Across the Life Course, Routledge [book chapter]; (2016) Women Speak: Gendering the Mobile Phone, UCP [book]

Soraia Gonçalves, Universidade Católica Portuguesa

MA in Communication Studies, specialization of Internet and New Media. Her research focuses on digital games.

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