Animal Crossing: New Horizons/Update history/1.2.0

The April Free Update (version 1.2.0), known in PAL regions as the Free Update, was an update for released on April 23, 2020, with version 1.2.1 being released on May 21, 2020. This update added several new holidays—Nature Day, May Day, International Museum Day, and Wedding Season—and included two vendor NPCs, Leif and Redd, selling bushes and art respectively. It was announced on April 21, 2020.

Bushes
Bushes have been reintroduced from in 1.2.0, with all but Sweet-Olive bushes returning. In order of blooming dates, the following bushes have been added
 * Pink-Camellia Bush NH Inv Icon.png Red-Camellia Bush NH Inv Icon.png Camellia bushes, in red or white, bloom January 1 - March 31 (Northern Hemisphere) and June 16 - September 30 (Southern Hemisphere)
 * Pink-Azalea Bush NH Inv Icon.png White-Azalea Bush NH Inv Icon.png Azalea bushes, in pink or white, bloom April 11 - May 31 (Northern Hemisphere) and October 11 - November 30 (Southern Hemisphere)
 * Blue-Hydrangea Bush NH Inv Icon.png Pink-Hydrangea Bush NH Inv Icon.png Hydrangea bushes, in blue or pink, bloom June 1 - July 20 (Northern Hemisphere) and December 1 - January 20 (Southern Hemisphere)
 * Red-Hibiscus Bush NH Inv Icon.png Yellow-Hibiscus Bush NH Inv Icon.png Hibiscus bushes, in red or yellow, bloom July 21 - September 20 (Northern Hemisphere) and January 21 - March 20 (Southern Hemisphere)
 * Orange-Tea-Olive Bush NH Inv Icon.png Yellow-Tea-Olive Bush NH Inv Icon.png Tea-Olive bushes, in orange or yellow, bloom September 21 - October 31 (Northern Hemisphere) and March 21 - April 30 (Southern Hemisphere)
 * Holly Bush NH Inv Icon.png Holly bushes bloom November 1 - December 31 (Northern Hemisphere) and May 1 - June 15 (Southern Hemisphere)

Leif
Leif makes his return selling bushes, alongside non-native flowers. He also offers to buy any weed that the player may have in their inventory for Bells 100. Outside of Nature Day, he is the source of the DIY recipe for a.

Art
The art mechanic returns in 1.2.0, and just like, has forgeries that the player must look very closely to check its authentication. While the Fine Painting and Neutral Painting do not return from, several new painting have been added: the Detailed Painting, Glowing Painting, Mysterious Painting, Sinking Painting, and Twinkling Painting. All the statues from return, with new statues being Familiar Statue, Informative Statue, Rock-Head Statue, Tremendous Statue, and Warrior Statue. Unlike, there is no forgery for the Great Statue.

Redd returns to sell art as well as non-native furniture, now operating a ship called Jolly Redd's Treasure Trawler. His ship is docked at the small beach at the top of the island. Players can now ask Redd for closer examination of the artwork to check for authenticity. Redd will only appear after the player has donated 60 items to the Museum.

Once a piece of art has been donated to the Museum, Blathers will close the Museum the next day for renovations in order to open the new Art exhibit. The art exhibit lays out most of the Statues at the entrance of the exhibit, followed by Renaissance and Baroque paintings at the top of the exhibit, and more Modern and Asian arts on the left.

Events and holidays
Several new holidays were introduced in 1.2.0.

Nature Day
Nature Day makes its return as a method to obtain additional Nook Miles. Tom Nook will offer bonus Nook Miles+ objectives for the player to achieve, and after completing the first Nature Day-related task a DIY recipe for a.

May Day
May Day is a new event that runs from May 1 to May 7, where the player must traverse through a maze utilizing much of the game mechanics of. At the end of the maze, Rover will greet the player, and offer as an award. s are also dispersed throughout the maze.

This event is time-locked, and only unlocks on 1.2.xa.

International Museum Day
International Museum Day is a new event that runs from May 18 to May 31. During the event, the player should explore around the Museum across the bug, fish, and fossil exhibits for the location of stamp rallies. Once the player obtains all the stamps in one exhibit, Blathers will offer the respective plaque as an award to the player: for the bug exhibit,  for the fish exhibit, and  for the fossil exhibit.

This event is time-locked, and only unlocks on 1.2.xb.

Wedding Season
Wedding Season is a new event that runs through the entirety of June, and primarily takes place on Harv's Island. Reese and Cyrus asks the player to take a photoshoot using related wedding furniture, in exchange for s to be sold for Wedding Series.

After a few days, the player can invite their own villagers or special characters to participate in a makeshift party, and the player is rewarded from Harvey a recipe for a and from Cyrus a recipe for a. The player can continue to play in the event until the end of June, and Reese will challenge the player by using different wedding themes for their photo.

This event is time-locked, and only unlocks on 1.2.xc.

Nook Shopping seasonal event
New to 1.2.0 is the introduction of seasonal items in Nook Shopping. These events are all time-locked and only unlock at their specified time-range. The following are events celebrated through this new service:
 * Mother's Day, a day dedicated to mothers, is celebrated throughout May with a.
 * International Children's Day, a dedication to every children, is celebrated throughout June with and.
 * Father's Day, a day dedicated to fathers, is celebrated throughout June with a.
 * The Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice are both celebrated between June 7 and July 6 with for summer and  for winter. Until 1.6.0, they were available for both hemispheres

Other features
Wilbur now allows the player to send any items they have to their storage or be sold directly to Nook's Cranny. These options are only available past May 31, 2020 for usage in Wedding Season.

Mystery Island changes
Several islands that could be encountered on Mystery Island Tour were adjusted: • :Rare Flowers Island was

• :Rare Flowers and Big Fish Island was

• :Short River and Pond Island was increased to 9.68%

• :Short River Island was increased to 9.68%

• :Spiral Island was increased to 9.68%

• :Fidget Spinner Island was increased to 9.68%

• :Mountain Island was decreased to 8%

• :Fruit Orchard Island was increased to 10%

• :Scorpion Island was decreased to 1%

• :Rugged Woodland Island was decreased to 1.5%

• :Curly River Island was increased to 8%

• :Big Fish Island was decreased to 2%

• :Trash Island was decreased to 1%

• :Dorsal-Fin Island was decreased to 0.5%

• :Waterfalls Island was increased to 10%

• :Gold Nuggets Island was decreased to 0.3%

Bug rate changes
All bugs now have the same chance to spawn in each month in which they are set to appear. Prior to this update, certain bugs would have a higher or lower chance of spawning during particular months compared to the other months in which they appear. Specific bugs have had their individual spawn rates adjusted for gameplay balance: • :Peacock Butterfly was decreased to 5%

• :Emperor Butterfly was decreased to 5%

• :Atlas Moth was decreased to 5%

• :Madagascan Sunset Moth was increased to 5%

• :Banded Dragonfly was decreased to 7%

• :Stinkbug was increased to 40%

• :Man-Faced Stink Bug was decreased to 20%

• :Tiger Beetle was increased to 15%

• :Dung Beetle was decreased to 10%

• :Scarab Beetle was decreased to 3%

• :Miyama Stag was increased to 35%

• :Giant Stag was decreased to 5%

• :Rainbow Stag was decreased to 7%

• :Horned Dynastid was increased to 35%

• :Tarantula was decreased to 2%

• :Scorpion was decreased to 2%

• :Cherry-Blossom Petal was increased to 150%

Wisp changes
Wisp's item gifts chances have changed. Prior to this update, whenever the player asks for "something new", Wisp would obtain an item in a price range of 0 – Bells 1999. When asking for "something expensive", Wisp would obtain an item in a price range of 0 – Bells 14999. In this update, the selling range has changed, and asking for "something expensive" will now result in Wisp pulling from two tables.

"Something new"

"Something expensive"

Other changes

 * The savings interest rate has been lowered from 0.5% to 0.05%.
 * All players will receive a letter informing them of the change, with a present containing a as an apology.
 * Outdoor stereos can now work independently of each other, instead of all sharing the same power state and playing the same music.
 * As a result of this change, all outdoor stereos will be switched off when the update is installed.

In 1.2.0

 * The Brown/Gold variant's furniture icon was fixed; previously the Gold texture appears to have been broken.
 * An issue involving villager move-in was fixed, where originally a villager could move in from a friend's island but not appear, and attempting to enter their house informs the player that they have moved out.
 * The affected villager will be completely removed from the island after the update is installed, and their plot will become vacant again.
 * The Gulliver's Travails Nook Miles achievement description had a spelling error fixed. Previously, the word "kindness" was spelled without an "n".

In 1.2.1

 * Two item duplication glitches, one involving a bugged table and the other involving the mailbox, were patched.
 * Existing bugged tables would still be able to duplicate items until 1.6.0.