The latest Animal Crossing direct made things right with fans of the franchise. Since its release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, for all its success, has seen a fair amount of anger from players. Sure, the title got plenty of gamers through lockdown, but once the initial shine wore off, it was clear that the game was missing a ton of content fans were desperate for–characters from past games were inexplicably absent, the villagers had the same things to say day in and day out, and shops sold the same items over and over.
With an absolutely massive free update coming this Friday, New Horizons is getting a complete facelift, giving players everything they’ve been asking for since day one. On top of that, Happy Home Paradise, the game’s first paid DLC, is releasing the same day. Nintendo confirmed today that this will be the ONLY paid DLC to be released for the game, though given what we saw in the Direct, it might be enough.
Priced at $24.99 or available as a part of the new Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack Membership, Happy Home Paradise will allow players to design vacation homes for characters. This isn’t a standalone game, despite how massive it looks, so owning New Horizons will be a prerequisite to play. In a statement, Nintendo clarified their position. “It is a major update to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and offers a distinguishing and different gameplay experience. Therefore, it made sense to include it as the first and only paid DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is currently available for the Nintendo Switch. The last major free Animal Crossing update will be coming to the game on November 5, 2021, and will add a number of fan-requested items and characters, including Brewster and The Roost coffee shop, sea tours, crops and cooking, new hairstyles, new fencing, updates to Nooks Cranny’s inventory, the addition of Gyroids, and random villager visits to player homes.