New Horizons 2.0 update is Animal Crossing’s final ‘major, free’ update

What’s the good news? The good news? Animal Crossing New Horizons update is coming on Nov 5, alongside new premium DLC — Happy Home Paradise. Bad news: It’s Nintendo’s last “major free” update for New HorizonsAnd Happy Home Paradise Nintendo will release the DLC only for this game.

Nintendo originally said during its Animal Crossing Direct in October that fans could expect these to be the game’s the last big content updates. The company clarified this for the press in the days following the event. New Horizons won’t get any more major updates, paid or free, after Nov. 5.

“The free update launching on Nov. 5 will be the last major free content update,” a Nintendo spokesperson told Polygon. “We hope that players will continue enjoying their island life in real time and throughout the changing seasons.”

The spokesperson continued: “Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Happy Home Paradise introduces a new gameplay experience in which the player joins the Paradise Planning team and helps make their client’s dream resort home become a reality. It’s a significant update to Animal Crossing New Horizons. This new experience offers an entirely different gaming experience. Itrefore, it made sense to include it as the first and only paid DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”

The Happy Home Paradise update and the free 2.0 content will surely keep players interested for a good while, but after this, it’s likely they’ll get just the smaller seasonal refreshes seen throughout the year.

New Horizons is one of Nintendo’s best-selling Nintendo Switch games setting records within months of its release in March 2020. Although the new update won’t bring back the excitement of the original launch within a year, it will encourage players to return to the game.