Nintendo sends Animal Crossing players a nostalgic surprise on the series’ 25th anniversary
New Horizons has another surprise update
Nintendo’s Animal Crossing series is 25 years old today, and to mark the occasion, the company has sent a surprise in-game gift to New Horizons players.
Animal Crossing was first released as Dōbutsu no Mori (‘Animal Forest’) for the Nintendo 64 in Japan on April 14, 2001. Later the same year, it was ported to Nintendo’s new GameCube console, and the game made its Western debut the following year.
To mark Tuesday’s milestone, Nintendo published update 3.0.2 for New Horizons. In addition to fixing various bugs, the update sees all players receive “a commemorative item” in the form of a Leaf Statue.
The item comes accompanied by a letter themed around the original Nintendo 64 version of Dōbutsu no Mori:
Guides: Check out our Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 guides for how to get Nintendo items from the Resort Hotel, how to unlock Zelda and Splatoon items, how to create and visit Slumber Islands, and every Resort Hotel room and upgrade explained.
Nintendo delivered a second anniversary gift to fans in the form of new music for its Nintendo Music app. The original Animal Crossing GameCube version soundtrack is available today.
Switch entry, New Horizons, received a major content update earlier this year in the form of a new Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, plus the Version 3.0 patch, which introduced a significant number of new items, alongside the Resort Hotel.
Features exclusive to the Switch 2 Edition include improved resolution (up to 4K when playing on TV), mouse controls for decorating rooms and creating custom designs, a megaphone that lets players call residents by their name, and 12-player online sessions with camera support.
