Animal Crossing: New Horizons has defied expectations. Launched over six years ago, many assumed major support had concluded, yet Nintendo recently dropped two huge announcements: a dedicated performance upgrade for the new Switch 2 console, and a giant, free 3.0 content update for all players. While both were initially scheduled to land tomorrow, January 15, the company has offered players an unexpected early gift—the massive 3.0 content patch is officially live today.
We have confirmed the update’s availability, and reports across platforms suggest this early release is global, not restricted to any single region. Getting the update is simple: for most users, it will download automatically upon waking the console. If your island hasn’t received the memo yet, hover over the game icon on the home screen, press the + button, select “Software Update,” and choose “Via the Internet” to manually pull the data.
It is important to note the distinction between the two launches. While the 3.0 content is available, the performance-focused Switch 2 Upgrade (a $4.99 purchase), which adds features like improved performance and increased online player capacity, remains on track for its original January 15 debut. Nevertheless, players eager for new activities can dive straight into the 3.0 goodies, which contain the lion’s share of gameplay additions—think the new hotel accessible via Kapp’n’s pier, the expansion to Slumber Islands, and fresh crossover furniture collections. The performance improvements can wait; the new content cannot.