Diana Farah Dubai

Japanese PM hopeful Shigeru Ishiba abandoned plans to use Nintendo’s popular Animal Crossing for his ruling party leadership election campaign, as it would go against the video game’s terms of use, his camp reported Tuesday.

According to Kyodo News, Ishiba looked into utilizing the game to reach out to the rank-and-file members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) by creating an Animal Crossing island called ‘Jimin-to,’ which is inspired by the party’s Japanese name. Campaign yard signs were also intended to be an option for users to download.

However, Nintendo’s terms of use prohibit users from making political statements in the video game. Many social media users pointed the fact out when Ishiba’s party announced the campaign on Sunday.

The coronavirus pandemic limits the candidate’s in-person speeches, so Ishiba intended to reach out to voters and create anticipation through Animal Crossing for the upcoming LDP elections Sept. 14, reported Kyodo News.

Ishiba is up against Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in the race for Japan’s new leader.

Nintendo of America has no such rule prohibiting political statements, giving US Democratic president contender Joe Biden the opportunity to use the game to reach out to voters in his campaign.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold over 22 million copies worldwide, gaining popularity due to the coronavirus lockdown period, which forced users to stay at home and find ways to entertain themselves.