Animal Crossing: New Horizons is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on 15 January along with the free 3.0 Update for both versions

Nintendo has just announced via its Nintendo Today! app that it will release the native version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Nintendo Switch 2 on 15 January 2026. This new version will be released in physical format for €64.99, and will also be available as an upgrade for current players of the Nintendo Switch 1 version for €4.99.

As well as polishing up the graphics to 4K/60fps, the new version of Nintendo's 2020 blockbuster will also take advantage of new Switch 2 features, such as the ability to chat live with your friends as you all visit the same island together, as well as using the webcam to see each other's faces as you play. And you'll probably need to, because now there will be more visitors at once: the maximum number of friends in a game increases from 8 players to 12 on Nintendo Switch 2. Also, with the built-in microphone, if you say the name of a villager you want to locate, you'll get an on-screen notification of where they are at the moment.

Alongside this release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 3.0 will also be released for all players on 15 January, which includes new content such as a Hotel on the coast of the island run by the Captain's family, and you'll need to lend a hand to decorate the interior of the hotel and get more visitors to your island. As a reward for helping them out, you will receive hotel vouchers, which you can redeem for exclusive items in the hotel's own shop.

The storage space in the storage room has also been expanded and can now hold up to 9,000 stored items, including flowers, trees, and shrubs.

But perhaps most interestingly, we now have twice as much space to literally create our dream home...., because Nintendo now includes a "dream island" that appears when you're in your dreams (in fact, you can create up to three dream islands) so you'll never stop building and enjoying the game.

With all these improvements and the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, there's no doubt that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is going to make a comeback in a big way. The downside, perhaps, is that this probably means a new instalment in the series is a couple of years away.

Check out everything that's coming for Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the free update and Nintendo Switch 2 version in the extensive trailer below.