Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch 2 update – everything you need to know

Nintendo is keeping Animal Crossing fans happy with both a Switch 2 port and a free content update for New Horizons.

Before Mario Tennis Fever in February, Nintendo’s first big release of the year is Animal Crossing. Not a brand new game, unfortunately, but an upgraded version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch 2.

To coincide with the launch, Nintendo is also releasing the first major update to the game in over four years, which is pretty substantial and available for free on both Switch 1 and Switch 2.

Whether you’re an established Animal Crossing fan or a newbie looking to see what all the fuss is about, here’s a simple breakdown of everything you need to know about New Horizons’ update and its Switch 2 launch.

When is Animal Crossing: New Horizons out for Switch 2?

The Switch 2 version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons launches on Thursday, January 15. The free 3.0 update comes out on the exact same day.

The game costs £54.99, but if you own the Switch 1 version, you can upgrade to the Switch 2 version for just £4.19, which is the cheapest of any of the Switch 2 upgrades that Nintendo offers.

What is new in Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch 2?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Switch 2 version contains a few new bells and whistles, that are only possible on the newer hardware, but there’s no major content that’s exclusive to it.

For starters, there’s support for the Switch 2’s mouse controls, which can be used for creating custom designs for clothing and drawing posts for the bulletin board. These features are also available on Switch 1, but the mouse controls simply make them more intuitive.

You can also use the Switch 2’s in-built microphone, in conjunction with the new megaphone item, to call out the names of your villagers, allowing you to find them more easily.

GameChat is supported as well, for online play, which allows for up to 12 players at once. For comparison’s sake, the Switch 1 version only allows up to eight players online.

The visuals are also improved on Switch 2, with Nintendo promising optimised graphics and 4K support. For what it’s worth, if you play New Horizons on Switch 2 through backwards compatibility without buying the upgrade, you can still enjoy the graphical improvements thanks to a separate free update.

Just so you know, the Switch 2 version does not include the Happy Home Designer DLC. You’ll still either need to purchase that separately or pay for a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription to access it.

What is included in the 3.0 update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

The 3.0 update is the more exciting addition to Animal Crossing: New Horizonsthis week, since it adds new content and some much wanted quality of life features. Again, this is available for both Switch 1 and Switch 2.

Firstly, there is a new hotel that you can help run and decorate to suit the needs of its guests. You will also earn special tickets that can be traded for new items, which include some themed after The Legend Of Zelda and Splatoon.

Series regular Mr Resetti will make a long overdue appearance too, allowing you to more easily reset parts of your island, instantly clearing away items you’ve placed down.

More importantly, your inventory space will be expanded to hold up to 9,000 items and, through Luna’s Dream World, you’ll be allowed to create and customise three additional islands, which was something many players have wanted since New Horizon’s launch.

When will Animal Crossing 6 come out?

There’s so far nothing to indicate when a new Animal Crossing for Switch 2 will launch. It has been nearly six years since New Horizons launched in 2020, so one must be in development, even if Nintendo’s not formally announced anything.

It was suspected work had already begun when Nintendo announced that New Horizons would see no further free updates after the release of version 2.0 and that was in November 2021.

Considering Animal Crossing is tailor made to be the kind of forever game publishers are keen on nowadays, it was always surprising that Nintendo stopped adding new content less than two years after launch.

Obviously, plans have changed slightly since then, but this update suggests the next Animal Crossing won’t be releasing any time soon.

For what it’s worth, New Horizons was first teased in September 2018 and was originally intended to launch in June 2019, only for it to be delayed until March 2020.

Nintendo tends not to announce games too far in advance, so that’s an unusually long gap between reveal and launch, but it’s impossible to guess whether the next game will follow a similar path.

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