As fans of Animal Crossing: New Horizons excitedly await the January content update, Nintendo has shared some new and familiar details on what will be included.
CGMagazine was invited to a digital preview of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and the free update launching alongside it. Many of the details were the same as the ones shown during the October 30th, 2025, Announcement Trailer. Starting with some of the new features included in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, players will be able to utilize mouse controls when redecorating their houses or creating custom designs or bulletin board messages.
Nintendo offered a brief look at how the microphone will be used in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Similar to its implementation in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, players can call out the names of their villagers using the Nintendo Switch 2 microphone to locate them on their island. Nintendo noted that the feature only works for villagers who are outside their homes, but it can also be used to call special characters visiting for the day.
Nintendo also reiterated the expanded online features coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The number of players who can visit an island at one time has increased from eight to 12. Previously, players could only communicate conveniently through the text chat feature in the Nintendo Switch App. That process has now been streamlined with the addition of GameChat. Players can not only communicate with each other, but also share their game screens, making it easier to locate one another while on the island.
Nintendo spoke a bit about the new Slumber Island feature, specifying that players need an active Nintendo Switch Online membership in order to access Slumber Island. What makes Slumber Island an interesting new feature is that it provides a different way for players to create islands with friends, or if they just want to have a separate island to design for themselves.
While we didn’t get to see a lot of new details on the Kapp’n’s Family Hotel, but did share some crucial information connected to the special items players can redeem for Hotel Tickets—namely, the retro Nintendo systems. Unlike the Gamecube Animal Crossing that had bespoke systems with individual games, each Nintendo system will have one game tied to it, which players can only access with an active NSO membership.
Unfortunately, Nintendo couldn’t share if any additional content or seasonal updates were coming alongside the 3.0 update, but players will have a lot to look forward to when it launches for both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on January 15th, 2026.
