Nintendo Confirms Sad News For Animal Crossing New Horizons Gamers

animal crossing new horizons happy home paradise

Once upon a time, a video game getting a post-launch patch was arguably a bad thing, as it meant that there was a flaw so serious in the original release that it warranted a significant update. In the age of "games as a service" and "living games" with rolling release cycles, however, we often hope that our favorite games will continue to get updates ad infinitum.

Well, one game that won't be getting updates forever is last year's hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The title has received regular content updates over the last year and a half since its launch, culminating in the release of its first DLC on November 5th. However, in a statement to IGN, Nintendo has now confirmed that the update on November 5 will in fact be the last "major content update" for the game.

It's a little confusing at first, but there are actually two Animal Crossing releases coming on the 5th. The first is a completely free update, the so-called "Version 2.0" update. That's bringing along a whole crop of content, including new villagers, cooking, gyroids, island ordinances, and The Roost coffee shop. You can see more about that release in the trailer below.


That kind of post-launch support is admirable, but there's also the Happy Home Paradise paid DLC hitting the same day. That add-on will bring many of the functions from the Nintendo 3DS release "Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer." Naturally—given the name—the content centers around constructing the dwelling of your dreams in a tropical archipelago. The DLC includes all kinds of new materials and furniture for creative players to use in the production of their new pad.

It's sad to think that Animal Crossing: New Horizons won't be getting any more major content updates after its first DLC, but there are fans who enjoyed the original game on the Gamecube for years after its release, and it never got any updates at all. With the amount of content already featured in the game—especially after its 2.0 update and DLC release—AC:NH should be able to keep villagers busy until the next release in the series.