When Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched during the depths of the pandemic, it became an island of calm and human connection for Nintendo Switch users around the world. It was a cheerful, happy place to hang out with people you could not see in person. Shuntaro Furukawa, Nintendo’s sixth global president told Fast Company in April that the game’s success surprised everyone, even him. Furukawa has been with Nintendo for 27 years and grew up – in Tokyo – playing Nintendo games.