For most of the past month, most of the world’s population has been taking refuge in their homes due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. Because of this, many gamers have been able to sink numerous hours and find escape in the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game has allowed friends to spend time together, keep in touch and even hold wedding ceremonies during this time of quarantine and isolation. Well, one Japanese company worried about digital privacy concerns has now opted to make Animal Crossing: New Horizons their digital meeting place of choice for business calls and staff meetings.

An employee of an anonymous Japanese company recently shared their assessment of conducting conference meetings in Animal Crossing: New Horizons on LiveDoor. With the sudden prevalence of Zoom as the video-chatting platform of choice for friends, family and workplaces lately, concerns regarding privacy and “Zoom-bombing” have risen as well. To ensure a secure meeting that would be closed off to outsiders, this company’s editor in chief suggested Animal Crossing as a new platform, given its requirements of friend requests for visiting someone’s town, as well as the ability to securely invite people through Dodo Codes.

After three days of preparation, the Japanese company employees then met in the constructed “conference rooms” on the island. Aside from the security benefits, New Horizons proved to be a fun meeting place. However, the drawbacks over services like Zoom and Skype included the lack of private chats that would not be seen by the entire group, the inability to send attachments and the easily distracting nature of the game. Still, this proved to be a cute and creative idea, and if “Zoom-bombing” persists, perhaps here in the States this idea may catch on. Although it is annoying when villagers bop you on the head with nets while you’re trying to present the latest quarterly earnings.

What do you guys think about this Japanese company holding business meetings in Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to stay tuned for the latest Animal Crossing news, such as the mod that makes Isabelle a playable character in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!