Animal Crossing: New Horizons/Update history/1.9.0

The Free Update (version 1.9.0) is an update for released on March 18, 2021. It adds six Sanrio-themed villagers as well as various Sanrio-themed items based on the Hello Kitty, Pompompurin, Little Twin Stars, Cinnamoroll, My Melody, and Keroppi franchises. The update was announced on February 25, 2021, and more information was released on March 16, 2021.

New features

 * Six Sanrio-themed villagers—Chai, Chelsea, Étoile, Marty, Toby, and Rilla—return after previously appearing in and . They can move to the player's island after their respective amiibo card is scanned.
 * Various Sanrio-themed items are added, many of which return from and . They are available for purchase after their respective character's amiibo card is scanned.
 * The, which can be purchased for Nook Miles 2000, allows the player to apply custom designs to umbrellas, uchiwa fans, flags, and standees.
 * In addition, the  can be bought for Nook Miles 300 and can be used outside Able Sisters via the player's NookPhone.
 * 50 additional slots were also added for both normal designs and Pro designs.
 * Bunny Day-themed items now appear in the seasonal spot at Nook's Cranny during the event, with some being exclusive to purchase from the store.
 * Four new Nook Shopping seasonal events are added:
 * April Fools' Day is celebrated from March 26 to April 1 with a.
 * Singmogil is celebrated from April 1 to April 10 with a.
 * Prom, based upon traditional school proms, is celebrated from April 1 to April 30 with the, , and.
 * In addition, Prom-themed clothing is available to purchase at the Able Sisters. As with Shamrock Day and Setsubun this is not time-locked like the corresponding Nook Shopping event.
 * Nature Day returns as a Nook Shopping seasonal event after being a regular event in 2020. Players can purchase a during this time from April 15 to April 22.

Changed features

 * The 2021 date of Bunny Day has been activated, with the event now lasting eight days instead of twelve from March 28 to April 4.
 * In the result of this change, the 2020 date of Bunny Day (April 1 to April 12) is no longer functional
 * Similarly, Nature Day's 2020 dates of April 23 to May 4 are disabled.
 * The HHA themes of the, , and were changed.
 * The was changed from a houseware to a miscellaneous furniture item.
 * When forcing a villager to mail a return gift by having a full inventory and gifting an item from a stack, a villager's photo is only in the potential return pool if individual items in the stack have a sell price of Bells 750+. The previous price was 250+ Bells.
 * The Zen Series was renamed to the Imperial Series.
 * The names of the following HHA themes were changed:
 * Folk Art → Heritage
 * Garage → Workshop
 * Zen-Style → Harmonious

In 1.9.0

 * Fixed an issue from version 1.4.0 where the player could not remove a wand outfit if they swapped their wand for another item while their pockets are full.
 * Fixed an issue from version 1.7.0 involving construction kits where the player could dig holes in spots that normally cannot be dug in if they used the "Let me imagine it..." option and did not place down the plot.

Related updates

 * The NookLink app will receive an update in late March 2021 that allows users to receive Nook Points, which can be used to redeem prizes, each day.
 * The Island Tour Creator, an app where the player can make posters and tour videos of their island to share with others, launched on March 24, 2021.