Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update is now live

Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ 2.0 update, which was due for release on November 5, appears to have gone live early for Animal Crossing players around the world.

If you’re keen to dive in with all the new features recently detailed by Nintendo, including cooking, island-hopping and new customisation options, you should head to your Switch and manually push through the update if your game hasn’t automatically refreshed.

It’s a great day to be an Animal Crossing fan.

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Nintendo’s cozy life sim and soothing balm from the stresses of 2020 onwards, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, is getting a massive free update, in addition to paid DLC entitled Happy Home Paradise, with both due out 5 November.

Detailed in an eventful Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct presentation, Nintendo introduced a wide range of new features and content coming to version 2.0, which will be the game’s last major free update. One of the major additions is the reintroduction of the popular character Brewster, who will open the Roost, a cafe extension to your island’s museum. Here, you can invite other players and characters to open more digital meetup possibilities in Animal Crossing.

Another returning character is the seafaring Kapp’n, who will take you on tours to mystery islands, where the seasons, times of day, and nature will be different each time. Gyroids, the odd gyrating figures, will also make a comeback in the form of customisable decorations that make sound, in addition to soliciting donations at Harv’s Island to fund market stalls for beloved merchant characters.

Version 2.0 also brings several quality-of-life improvements previous Animal Crossing games featured, including the ability to change the time your island’s residents are active, permanent ladder placements, and vastly increased storage options. There’s plenty of new customisation options, too, including increased house exterior and interior customisation, more cosmetics to choose from, plus new first-person and tripod camera modes to capture your creations.

Happy Home Paradise is a paid DLC expansion of sorts, featuring an archipelago for you to design vacation homes for all sorts of characters needing a holiday. Similar to Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, a 2015 Nintendo 3DS spin-off, Happy Home Paradise‘s core focus is on home design, customisation, and decorating. Happy Home Paradise‘s main difference to the 3DS game, however, is that it’s connected directly with the main game – Animal Crossing: New Horizons, in this case – instead of existing as a standalone experience.

Based on the video showcasing Happy Home Paradise, it looks like there will be a decent amount of design tools to learn and play around with, as well as the trademark Animal Crossing cutesy charm. Happy Home Paradise is retailing locally for $37.50 via the Nintendo eShop.

Nintendo also revealed another method of accessing the Happy Home Paradise DLC: by subscribing to the upcoming new online subscription tier. Referred to as the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, the elevated offering includes everything in the base Nintendo Switch Online subscription, plus access to a collection of Nintendo 64 and Sega Mega Drive games, in addition to the Happy Home Paradise DLC. Here in Australia, a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription will cost $59.95 for individuals, or $109.95 for a family membership you can share with up to eight people.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a worldwide success following its launch in March 2020, which was part of increased video game sales in Australia while becoming one of the Nintendo Switch’s best-selling games.

Version 2.0 of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Happy Home Paradise launch on 5 November, while the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription goes live on 26 October.