Like most Nintendo franchises, Animal Crossing has always been squarely stuck on Nintendo systems. Without venturing into emulation, there's never been a way to play the games on other platforms, and the lack of true Animal Crossing competitors can be frustrating for those without a collection of Nintendo hardware.
I highly doubt we'll ever see an official Animal Crossing port to PC or other consoles, but in the meantime, fans have managed to do the necessary work themselves. A new decompilation of the original Animal Crossing makes it possible to play the game natively on PC, converting the original game files into code that a PC can read without any emulation software. Reddit user OldMcGroin showed off the decomp running on a Steam Deck, and fans are especially enamored with its potential for handheld play.
While Animal Crossing was always a successful series, a lot of people have never had the opportunity to play the original GameCube release. Comfrotable-Tip2379 shares a memory of their babysitter's daughter frequently playing the game in front of them, claiming that the decomp will rectify this as "the first game [they] get" for the Steam Deck.
It's already possible to emulate Animal Crossing...
