Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 3.0 – Free Update
Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 3.0 is an update released on January 14, 2026, alongside Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition the following day.[1] Initially planned for release on January 15, the update was made available a day early in most regions.[2]
It is the first major content update for New Horizons since the release of version 2.0 over four years prior in November 2021, which was announced at the time as the final planned content update for the game.
New features[edit]
Additional villagers[edit]
New[edit]
Two The Legend of Zelda collaboration villagers are introduced, based on the characters of the same names from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. They can be invited to town by scanning compatible The Legend of Zelda series amiibo.
Returning[edit]
Two Splatoon collaboration villagers return from Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo. As in that game, they can be invited to town by scanning compatible Splatoon series amiibo. Their designs are now based on Shiver and Frye from Splatoon 3 instead of Callie and Marie.
Hotel[edit]
The island's hotel is added to a newly-extended pier, operated by Kapp'n, Leilani, Leila, and Grams. The player is tasked to design rooms for guests to match a specific theme, utilising a similar interior design system to Happy Home Paradise. Tourist villagers will visit the player's island and can be invited to stay at the hotel. Guests who have checked in can freely roam the island, much like the resident villagers. Players can also scan amiibo to invite specific characters to the hotel (certain special characters such as Tom Nook and Isabelle cannot be invited, nor can special characters who are visiting town for the day).
As the player completes projects, they will be awarded Hotel Tickets, which can be exchanged for goods at the souvenir shop run by Grams. Hotel Tickets can also be acquired by fulfilling requests for the DIY Donation Box where Kapp'n delivers crafted good to far-off locations, which in turn will increase the hotel's international brand recognition.
The hotel lobby has two mannequins that can be dressed with custom outfits which both animal and human visitors to the island can borrow and wear. This can also be used to quickly share common outfits amongst visitors in multiplayer.
Reset Service[edit]
Mr. Resetti appears in town with a new Reset Service, in which he can be tasked to clean up specific areas of the island. The player can ask him to clean up the entire beach, the entire island, or select a specific area themselves for him to clear. In the latter scenario, Resetti will give the player a transceiver to summon him in the location they wish to be reset. Resetti will ask the player whether they wish for cleared items to be disposed of or placed into storage. He can also be tasked to clear planted flowers and custom designs, but will refuse to clear weeds, trees, bushes, produce, shells, message bottles, or buried items.
The first use of the service is free of charge, but subsequently costs 
60,000 Bells per day, covering unlimited usage throughout the day. When Resetti is not present, the player can ask Isabelle in Resident Services to summon him. Resetti will not provide the Reset Service when a major event is taking place in the town.
Slumber Islands[edit]
The player can visit a new dream world, where Luna will bring them to a Slumber Island. Each player may create up to 3 Slumber Islands, choosing from a selection of random layouts, and one of three different sizes (small, medium, or large). The player can fully terraform the island and decorate it using items from their catalog. Custom designs can be saved to each island separately from those of the player's own island. The time of day and weather can also be set to specific settings, while Lloid can be asked to construct bridges and inclines on demand. The player can invite their villagers to reside on the Slumber Island (including the ones that are not on their island at the moment), or invite friends via multiplayer to assist in editing the island together.
Upon installing the 3.0 update, Luna will send the player a letter hinting at the existence of Slumber Islands.
Collaborations[edit]
By assisting the hotel and increasing its brand recognition, Grams will start stocking rare furniture items. These are items themed around classic Nintendo consoles and retro toys. If the player has an active subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, they will be able to play one select game from six classic Nintendo consoles by interacting with their respective furniture items, similar to how NES games work in the first-generation games.
LEGO-themed furniture was added to Nook Shopping. The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon-themed items are also available by scanning compatible amiibo from the respective series.
Furniture series[edit]
Alongside the collaboration items, a total of seven new furniture series were added in 3.0.
- Kids Series
- The Legend of Zelda Series
- LEGO® Series
- Marble Series
- Splatoon Series
- Tubular Series
- Zen Modern Series
Items added in 3.0[edit]
3.0.0 items in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
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Changed features[edit]
Quality-of-life improvements[edit]
Trees, bushes, and flowers can now be placed in storage. The player's maximum storage capacity can now be increased by two additional levels: 7,000 (costing 1,500,000 Bells), and ultimately, 9,000 (costing 1,800,000 Bells). If the player visits Resident Services and had fully upgraded their storage before installing the update, Tom Nook will inform them that new storage upgrades have become available.
When crafting DIY, it is now possible to select the quantity of an item (up to 10) to be produced at once, instead of needing to craft each item one at a time. Crafting and customizing now also utilises materials and customization kits held in storage, removing the need for the player to have them in their pockets.[3] The player can also now bulk purchase customization kits from Nook's Cranny in quantities of 50. A new section is added to the DIY interface to display DIY requests from the hotel and Tom Nook.[4]
Pressing 
now snaps the player to the world grid. While holding the button, the player can quickly move facing the same direction, making it easier to build or remove fences, paths, cliffs, and rivers along a single axis.[4] This action can only be performed by the player when they are outside on a player's island or Slumber Island. However, attempting the action while standing on a spot too small to perform the action, such as the airport dock, on the entrance of a building like a house, on an incline or bridge, or on the slope between the beach and mainland will fail, prompting an animation of the player tilting their head and looking confused.
Other changes[edit]
The recycle box at Resident Services now has a chance to contain DIY crafted items on random.
Isabelle can now be asked to suggest a recommended island tune melody, which includes the default tune. Additionally, she can also now be asked to revert the island flag to its default design.[4]
The Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp-themed items that were previously only available by linking Pocket Camp to the same Nintendo Account as New Horizons are now permanently unlocked for all players. The original method to obtain these items was no longer possible following the end of service for Pocket Camp in 2024. The Super Mario Bros. items have also been made available without the need to link a Nintendo Account. The order of collaboration items shown in the catalogs used for decorating Photopia and the hotel have been adjusted.[4]
Several items, such as snowflakes, can now be sold at the Nook's Cranny drop-off box.[4] Blue playroom wall, green playroom wall, pink playroom wall, and yellow playroom wall are now part of the new Kids Series. Stone tile similarly is now part of the Marble Series.
Pascal now always gives the player a pearl when he is given a scallop.[4]
Leif's weeding service fee has been reduced from 100,000 Bells to 60,000 Bells. He can now be asked to remove weeds when there are 30 or more weeds on the island (reduced from the previous threshold of 300 or more) and Leif now also offers the service when visiting the island.[4] A bug that resulted in weeds not being removed correctly has been fixed.
Kapp'n and his family were previously added to the game in version 2.0, having the same appearance they had in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. They have all received brand-new designs with this update:
Aside from other changes done in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Nintendo Switch 2 consoles now capture screenshots and record videos at 1920x1080 even without the upgrade pack. The upgrade pack is still necessary for improved graphics and performance changes for the console.
Patches[edit]
Version 3.0.1[edit]
Version 3.0.1 of New Horizons was released on February 18, 2026.
Changed features[edit]
- Rumble intensity for Nintendo Switch 2 controllers have been readjusted to match the intensity level to that of the original Nintendo Switch controllers
Bug fixes[edit]
- An issue where the game would run slower upon exiting the hotel was fixed.
- An issue where, upon asking Resetti to reset a portion of the island, fences put away would either duplicate or change customization and some items would outright disappear was fixed.
- An issue where Timmy and Tommy could stop following the player in Nook's Cranny was fixed.
- An issue where hitting a rock could prematurely pop the items out was fixed.
- An issue where, after playing on another player's Slumber Island, players could not customize or move their own Slumber Island house was fixed.
- An issue where redeeming an Island Designer permit could play the Camera app sequence instead was fixed.
- Certain items in the player's catalog had their positions properly fixed for use in Photopia and designing hotel rooms and vacation homes.
In Nintendo Switch 2 Edition[edit]
- An issue where the skybox for clouds was misaligned and causes parts of the sky to show unnaturally was fixed.
Promotional images[edit]
A player submitting DIY items to the hotel
Kapp'n speaking to the player
A guest room designed at the hotel
A guest room designed at the hotel
Leilani speaking to the player
A guest room being designed at the hotel
A guest room designed at the hotel
Punchy speaking to the player about his guest room
Trees, bushes, and flowers placed in storage
The lobby of the hotel
A player inviting guests to the hotel with amiibo
Label speaking to the player about her guest room
Leilani rewarding the player with Hotel Tickets
A selection of LEGO items for sale in Nook Shopping
A room containing various LEGO items
The mannequins in the hotel
A player dressing a mannequin in the hotel
Maggie speaking to the player as a tourist
Eight players posing on the pier
A selection of Nintendo items for sale at the hotel
A player interacting with the NES item
Ice Climber being played via the NES item
Resetti speaking to the player about the Reset Service
A player using the Reset Service
A section of the island after using the Reset Service
A player about to enter a Slumber Island
A player entering a Slumber Island
A player placing furniture on a Slumber Island
A player modifying the terrain of a Slumber Island
A player modifying the terrain of a Slumber Island
Lloid speaking to the player on a Slumber Island
An incline being built on a Slumber Island
The time of day and weather being customized on a Slumber Island
Villagers being placed on a Slumber Island
Four different terrain layouts for a small Slumber Island
Four different terrain layouts for a medium Slumber Island
Four different terrain layouts for a large Slumber Island
Several players on a Slumber Island
Several players on a Slumber Island
Several players modifying the terrain of a Slumber Island
Grams's souvenir shop at the hotel
A selection of items for sale at the hotel
A selection of items for sale at the hotel
Trailer[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Nintendo (October 30, 2025). "Animal Crossing: New Horizons sails ashore with a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and free content update Jan. 15". nintendo.com. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
- ↑ Polygon (January 14, 2026). "The Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update is out early". polygon.com. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ↑ Nintendo (October 30, 2025). "Animal Crossing™: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch™ 2 Edition Upgrade Pack". nintendo.com. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Nintendo (January 15, 2026). "How to Update Animal Crossing: New Horizons". nintendo.com. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
External links[edit]
- Japanese game page
- North American announcement article
- Japanese announcement article
- Korean announcement article
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