Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Version 2.0 Will Be The Game's Final Major Free Update

Just like super mario maker 2. An end of an era...or is it?

Well, I guess I'll be getting this game.

I guessing/hoping they only mean no more big ones like as this upcoming one, but small addaditions still will happen like couple new seasonal things and such as?

Even apart from the Happy Home expansion, the free update is adding a healthy mix of new features and quality of life changes. Looks good. (even though it's all stuff that could/should have been included from the start.)

That's fine, the free stuff has been sub-par until today's. I'll pay $25 again and again for substantial updates, keep them coming!!

I am thrilled by the return of Happy Home, that game was wonderful. And caters to my favorite aspect of Animal Crossing 🏚️♥️♥️

I've only missed 5 days since the game launched. Still only got half the art. This update will keep me going.

So i still baffled with the price.
It said the DLC will cost $25.
And also you can access HHP from ACNH Expansion Pack after you subscribe the Expansion Pack NSO.
Should i just paid $25 for getting HHP without paid more for Expansion Pack ?

The free update has great cool stuff but the one thing I wanted more was store expansions so it would become a small mall in the end with 3-4 levels. And more rooms in your house, another floor and expand the smaller existing rooms. And I would love the New Leaf island mini games for multiplayer because now there is nothing to do than to take a walk around the island for 5 minutes.

@Yorumi
I was thinking is the HHP price $25 i can purchase straightly without paid more for Expansion pack while my subscription was a Normal NSO $20 ?

Edit: Oh, so that mean with my Normal NSO $20, I just paid $25 for HHP DLC ?

YES! GYROIDS ARE BAACK!

@Anti-Matter Right, if you keep your base $20 subscription, HHP will be $25 as its own separate download if you aren't wanting the NSO Expansion Pass.

I am very pleasantly surprised. This update seems to include most that I felt was missing from Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Guess I will actually return to my town after having left it for about a year.
I am not really interested in the DLC thought, the only stuff that I wanted seems to be in the free update.

@Anti-Matter You can buy one year of the expansion pass and still keep the AC DLC forever. If you want both you might as well just get the pass. I have no interest in anything else in the pass so I'm just buying the DLC for $25

Last of the free content but will hook suckers into a membership for new content. I usually defend Nintendo but they have just gone the way of the rest of the industry now and the were the last bastion of the old school.

I had over 1500 hours in the game just from trying to get my island as perfect as possible. Now after this update I feel like I'm gonna have to change so much. Lol I have no idea what I'm gonna do but super hyped. Update looks fantastic and just what was needed to boost it up more even after I got my many hours in lol

@Stocksy Are you still rambling that fake news? That's not how it works man. You keep any DLC in the pass forever even if you unsubscribe, or just buy the DLC once if you don't care about the other Expansion stuff.

@Yorumi
Oh, thanks.
Sound affordable.
I will prepare some money to get the HHP DLC.

@SpaceboyScreams You won't be able to keep the Animal Crossing DLC forever, you will loose access to it when your memberschip becomes inactive. It is mentioned in the trailer at the 1:30 mark https://youtu.be/fNsGXJ6Cl00?t=93
"An active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack is required to access DLC at no addition cost"

I was doubting they had a reason for an Animal Crossing Direct, but I was wrong. Very pleasantly surprised. Within like two to three minutes of this Direct they already vastly exceeded my expectations.

@MajorTom I'm not sure how you interpreted it that way. It doesn't mean to CONTINUE accessing it, just to download it. Once it's downloaded it's yours, whether you bought it separate or unlocked it through the subscription. They can't un-download anything from you.

@Stocksy
The rest of the industry would have supported a game like AC for years with free content updates along with DLC but instead Nintendo has chosen to drop free content updates and just put out DLC.

I’m fine with the end of big free updates in favor of introducing good paid ones. I’m amazed we didn’t get a store upgrade this one. How hard is that to add?

Slightly devastated that Nook's Cranny isn't getting another upgrade. I wanted the HD Nookington's/T&T Emporium experience!

@Yorumi I was just thinking that you and @VoidofLight might have been a little surprised in a positive way with the update haha. Glad to see that they do seem to pay attention to criticism.

@Kimyonaakuma A shop upgrade was part of the leak that 80% of this direct had in it, they probably just didn't want to spoil it

Well, I think these updates will make New Horizons my favorite Animal Crossing game. They addressed quite a few of my issues, it looks like. Really excited to get back into it!

An okay update, not enough to get me back in probably.

This update is substantial to me WOW... Yes, true, New Leaf had a lot of this built in to unlock and work towards but I'm excited to mix all of it with the new features that New Horizons brought with it. VERY excited and will certainly be picking the game up again FINALLY! I was playing New Leaf last night because I kind of still enjoy all there is to do in that game. That all changed today!

This update and the dlc may have just persuaded me to get the game back and try it again... For the 4th time

@SpaceboyScreams They certainly can revoke access to it. Games like Tetris 99 and the SNES and NES applications also check for an active subscription when you have it installed on your Switch. The trailer clearly said it requires an active subscription to access it, not download it.
Edit: Same happens for online modes of plenty of games.

I wonder how many people will reach the 9999 hours limit on the Switch with this update.

@GamingBread thinking Nintendo is preparing their next console...

It's a great update but Nintendo originally said they had content for "years to come"
I guess a year and a half is technically "years" but it's the bare minimum for the term lol

@roy130390 Agreed. I'm pretty happy right now due to this new information.. and I can't wait to dive back into the game when both the expansion and the game releases.

@MajorTom This isn't an "online mode" though, it's all added files to the base package. You think you'll wake up one day and the hundreds of new items all over your island will just be gone? The trailer never said that you have to keep the subscription to keep accessing it, I can't believe anyone actually believes that's a possibility, this isn't the same as Tetris 99 at all. Nintendo even specified: https://www.gamesradar.com/heres-what-happens-to-your-animal-crossing-new-horizons-dlc-if-you-stop-paying-for-nintendo-switch-online/
You keep everything, you just lose the ability to go to the vacation island. All the QOL upgrades, furniture and items, etc. etc. stay with you after you unsubscribe. If you want to keep going to vacation island you have to cough up the bucks so if that was an exciting aspect to you then yes it's a shame, but the real reward is being able to do everything new on your own island, which you still can.

Oh my gosh. This is more than I ever expected! I will be playing more soon!

@SalvorHardin
Almost all other live service games have a boatload of microtransactions and/or seasonal battle passes to finance all the free content updates.

Since Nintendo mostly avoids putting microtransactions in their 1st party Switch games, they decided to end the big major free updates and focus on the Happy Home Paradise DLC.

@SpaceboyScreams I think you will likely be able to keep the items, but won't be able to access the new locations or features from the DLC like the Happy Home Design islands and changing the abiance sounds. This has been done before in games like Monster Hunter World where all content was released in game but you couldn't access the new village from iceborn without the dlc while you can still play with players with the new weapons, armour etc.

@MajorTom I updated my comment with a link where Nintendo make it clear that you keep all items and upgrades.

Well that’s cool, even though most of this was in new leaf at launch

@SpaceboyScreams Thanks, I now see your edit. It seems I had the right idea with comparing it to iceborn.

@ryancraddock IGN is reporting that this is the last major update - period, despite the specificity of what was said in the Direct. Do you have any insight on that?

Excuse me while I make room for my farm.

@SViper think they will still sell dlc, just there won't be any free updates. Hope I'm right

Oo it’s coming out on bonfire night! It’ll be awesome to cuddle up to my partner indoors while playing the new AC stuff and hearing fireworks going off in the distance! Good job we’re not going to a bonfire this year!

honestly good, we got burned long enough with these slow updates. glad theyre finally completing the game

Why so soon? I really hoped this game would get service-like anual updates. With the latest content, this is looking like the definitive Animal Crossing game, I don't know what could surpass it, apart from a bigger island.

@VoidofLight
Are you happy now with the Direct ?
I told you the Direct will have some major additional contents.

the New Leaf upgrade, essentially porting all the features from that game: Café, Boat Tour, Gyroyds, "the Mayor laws" and the complete Town area in form of the Open Market on Harv’s Island.

All that + farming and cooking.

Free content is not coming to an end. This is the last MAJOR free update. There will be a few minor ones later on.

Time to return to my island and hear all the complaints that they haven’t seen me in months. This looks like a great update!

@Yorumi,

I think all this stuff was planned from the start, they just ran out of time, and thought the island design was more than enough to keep people entertained, this stuff has just come at the right time.

@VoidofLight,

So glad they have added all this stuff, so now people not as happy with the game can get back into it.

But isn't is also the first major update? 😜

@Yorumi,

I guess it could be as you say a bit of both, so glad it gives those players who were not as impressed with the original release a reason to get back into it, and the additional things just put the icing on the cake.

So happy for this.

I just hope those Amiibo cards are easily attainable. The new animals look so cute. Personally love Shino’s design.

@Yorumi Most of what they showed has been leaked for over a year. Ceiling items, harvesting, gyroids, etc. The game itself hasn't been in production for a long time, the team has moved on, this was all planned to draw out the game's life.

@johnvboy You're not allowed to be happy for this. You have hated on everyone asking for it for months and months. I'm surprised you're even considering downloading it since you still have soooo much to do with what the game came with.

Unless it was mentioned and I didn't see it that means no batch crafting, which is a shame but you can't really complain when everything else you get is great. This is a worthy final free update.

Took them way too long for Gyroids...I doubt I'll get this game again after playing it for a month or so before losing interest in it completely like the other games...

@SpaceboyScreams,

You have me there , although suggesting I hated people complaining is a tad harsh, I just did not share their point of view, and pretty sure I said many times I would take extra content if offered, I just did not see the game as broken, or poor value without it.

@Stocksy

I’m really not sure what your issue is here. The paid DLC can be either a one-time purchase, or you can get it with the NSO expansion at no extra cost. How is this enticing people to pay for the NSO expansion? People who only want the paid DLC can purchase it (which is cheaper than a year of the NSO expansion membership), or they get it as an added bonus if they were going to get the membership anyway. This is a win-win for consumers, unless you wanted the Happy Home stuff to be part of the free update. In that case, you’re being extremely greedy. This paid DLC is a huge chunk of content for a reasonable price, and they’ve added a ton of stuff in the free update. Expecting Nintendo to keep rolling out free content for the next couple of years is insane.

@Grandiajet The art has always been the hardest thing to collect in every Animal Crossing game.

@PushMyGran1986 yeah when comes to big updates, but for small update like seasonal ones with extra decoration or 2 for Holidays and such as is not big update, so that's why I think could happen.

IGN says this is the last update for Animal Crossing, period. Nintendolife (as I thought) says this is the last FREE update, implying there will be many more paid DLC packages in the future. I don't know who to believe...

No bulk crafting still annoys me. But I feel like there’s enough new stuff to get me to give the game another go after the first 70 hours I dropped into it last year.

I would rather they just upgrade Nook Cranny rather than going somewhere else.