Nintendo has announced a major update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which will include a free upgrade for the Switch 2 and new content for the game. Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out in March 2020, and it was a major success, taking the gaming world by storm. In November 2021, Nintendo released patch 2.0 for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which featured a major free content update; it went live alongside the Happy Home Paradise DLC pack. After this, there were occasional updates that fixed issues in order to improve player experience.
It’s possible to watch the credits roll in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but that doesn’t mean it’s over, as it is a very replayable game. After completing the main story, players can continue to work on their museum collections, reach maximum friendship with their villagers, explore the Happy Home Paradise DLC, and decorate to their heart’s content. So, even though many players packed up the game after completing the game, many kept going back to it over the past few years.
Animal Crossing New Horizons to Receive Major Update and Switch 2 Upgrade
Four years after the last major patch, another significant update is coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. On October 30, 2025, Nintendo posted a trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and update 3.0. Both will include exciting new features and are set to release on January 15, 2026. Players will have to pay $4.99 to upgrade to the Switch 2 version of the game, but the free update, which will be available for Switch and Switch 2, will be completely free of cost.
Free Update ver3.0 Features
- Kapp’n’s Family Hotel on the pier
- Up to 7,000 storage space in the player’s home
- Multicrafting
- More Resetti services
- Slumber Islands
- Collabs with LEGO, Zelda, and Splatoon
Players can purchase Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch 2 Edition for $64.99, or if they already own the game for the original Switch, they can simply buy the Switch 2 upgrade. The Switch 2 edition of New Horizons will provide enhanced resolution and improved graphics, support for Switch 2 mouse controls, add a megaphone feature that will allow players to call over villagers, and increase the number of gamers that can simultaneously visit the player’s island.
The content update will include an array of new features and quality-of-life improvements. Animal Crossing: New Horizons v3.0 brings Kapp’n’s family hotel to the player’s island, adds storage space, allows crafting multiple objects at once, and improves Resetti’s services, making it easier to clean up islands. Additionally, Luna will provide a new service where players can freely build up to three Slumber Islands without any restrictions, which should work similarly to Minecraft‘s Creative Mode. Lastly, the update introduces items created in collaboration with LEGO, Zelda, and Splatoon, which will not only bring decorative items but also villagers based on known characters from these franchises.
- Released
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March 20, 2020
- ESRB
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E for Everyone: Comic Mischief
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
