Nintendo has officially confirmed that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will receive a new update shortly, which will include a new event and goods. Gamers have chastised animal Crossing for its lack of gameplay once the main loop has been finished, and the forthcoming free update may not be what they were hoping for.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was critically acclaimed when it was released in 2020, but many players had abandoned their islands a year later. There’s no motivation to keep playing once players finish their island duties and beat the game other than to upgrade the design and decorating of their islands.
Though there are free updates for the game on occasion, they are mainly seasonal events with limited gameplay, usually centered around trivial chores. Seasonal events usually reward island residents or player characters with basic ornamental objects that have minimal or no interactivity, and they’ve been repeating with no modifications since March 2021.
While the makers of Animal Crossing are having a lot of fun with optical illusions, glitches, and themed islands, many fans are looking for a large content update to make the game more playable.
Nintendo verified the news on Twitter, stating that the next free Animal Crossing: New Horizons update will be released later this week, on July 29. Players will be able to add new seasonal products to their catalogs as well as learn about forthcoming weekly fireworks events. Regrettably, the business made no mention of what goods players may expect or how many will be available in the game. To access the new content, players must have the most recent version of the game installed.
Nintendo hasn’t revealed any further information about the planned update, although it’s expected to be comparable to the Animal Crossing fireworks display in 2020. Players were able to see fireworks performances every Sunday in August last year, as well as build their own personalized fireworks creations.
A free update for #AnimalCrossing: New Horizons arrives on July 29. Please ensure you have updated to the latest version to enjoy the upcoming weekly Fireworks shows and new seasonal items. pic.twitter.com/NiIb0M5wAv
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 27, 2021
Redd’s Raffle was also added to the event, where raffle tickets could be purchased for a chance to win prizes. Redd’s Raffle will be back, according to the teaser image released by Nintendo, and his prizes are likely to differ from last year’s offerings.
While it’s great to see pyrotechnics return to the game, this isn’t the kind of news gamers were looking for. When comparing New Horizons to earlier installments in the series, a lot of major elements and characters are missing, including Brewster and his coffee shop, Gyroids, Tortimer Island, fruit diversity, and more.
A widely referenced datamine for Animal Crossing: New Horizons hinted at an island extension, which might indicate that some of these characters and features would return, but it won’t be in the next free game update.
