Nintendo has finally announced that a new update is coming to Animal Crossing for its lack of gameplay once the core loop has been completed, and the next free update still might not be what players have been waiting for.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons released in 2020 to critical acclaim, but a year on from its launch many players have abandoned their islands. Once players complete their island tasks and beat the game, there's very little reason to continue playing other than to improve the design and decoration of players' islands. Though the game does see free updates occasionally, these are typically seasonal events offering limited gameplay, usually revolving around minor tasks. Seasonal events normally offer simple decorative items as rewards, which have limited or no interactivity for island villagers or player characters - worse, they've repeated with no changes since March 2021. While Animal Crossing designers are having fun with optical illusions, glitches, and themed islands, many are hoping for a deep content expansion to give the game more playability.
Taking to Twitter to announce the news, Nintendo confirmed that the next free Animal Crossing: New Horizons update will be available later this week on July 29. The update will include weekly fireworks shows, as well as new seasonal items for players to add to their catalogs. Unfortunately, the company didn't give any indications as to what items players can expect or how many will be coming to the game. Players will need to have the latest version of the game installed to be able to access the new content.
Nintendo hasn't yet offered any further details on the update, but it's likely to be similar to 2020's Animal Crossing fireworks celebration. Last year, players were able to enjoy fireworks shows every Sunday in August and could also create custom fireworks designs. The event also added Redd’s Raffle, where raffle tickets could be purchased to potentially win prizes. The teaser image shared by Nintendo shows Redd's Raffle will be returning, and it seems likely his prizes could vary from last year's offerings.
While it's nice to see fireworks return to the game, it's not exactly the news players were hoping for. Comparing the latest addition to the series to previous titles in the franchise, New Horizons is missing a number of key features and characters, including Brewster and his coffee shop, Gyroids, Tortimer Island, fruit variety, and more. A popularly cited Animal Crossing: New Horizons datamine has teased an island expansion, which could suggest some of these characters and features could be making a comeback, but sadly it won't be happening in the next free game update.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Nintendo of America/Twitter
