What’s Free, Paid, Subscription, Or Switch 2 Exclusive In Animal Crossing’s Big Version 3.0 Update?

Nintendo has announced an impressive package of new features and content for Animal Crossing: New Horizons that will launch in January 2026, but what you get may vary depending on which system you own or if you’re a subscriber.

For anyone confused on the details, we’ll break down in this article exactly what’s coming in a completely free update, what requires a Nintendo Switch 2 with upgrade purchase, and what’s gated behind an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

What’s In The Free Update For Nintendo Switch 1 & 2

Good news — much of the new content and features announced this week are free for all players on both the original Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2!

In summary, everyone can enjoy these new features without purchasing an upgrade pack or a Nintendo Switch 2:

Kapp’n’s Resort Hotel:
- Designing hotel rooms for guests
- Earning and spending Hotel Tickets currency on new items
- Dressing up hotel mannequins
Slumber Island:
- Decorating and building up to three separate dream islands with creative mode style features
- Pick from three island size types
- Customize time of day and weather
- Visit and build these islands together with friends online
Resetti’s Reset Service:
- Easily clean up your island’s furniture and plants
- Pick from specified areas, beach, or entire island

New classic Nintendo systems and toys:
- Purchase with Hotel Tickets after progressing through Resort Hotel
- Play select retro games when interacting with their associated consoles
New collaboration items and villagers:
- LEGO themed furniture and clothing
- The Legend of Zelda themed items and villagers (Tulin & Mineru)
- Splatoon themed items and villagers (Shiver & Frye)
Minor quality-of-life improvements:
- Expand home storage to 9,000 items and store plants
- Craft items with DIY Crafting in bulk

However, a couple of these features have aspects locked behind Nintendo Switch Online subscription, which we’ll cover in the third section of this article.

For a more detailed breakdown on every new feature with more screenshots, read our complete These 15 NEW Features Are Coming In Version 3.0 Update article.

What’s Paid & Exclusive For Nintendo Switch 2

Completely separate from free content in the Version 3.0 Update covered above, you can buy the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This purchase unlocks features exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 hardware.

Existing digital and physical owners of Animal Crossing: New Horizons can buy a digital Upgrade Pack to Nintendo Switch 2 Edition for $4.99 USD / $6.99 CAD / £4.19 from the Nintendo eShop or a download code at retail stores.

New players can buy a bundled digital or physical copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons in Nintendo Switch 2 Edition form for $64.99 USD / $89.99 CAD / £54.99.

These exclusive features require both a Nintendo Switch 2 console and the Upgrade Pack (or bundled version):

Joy-Con 2 mouse controls for:
- Drag and drop interior decorating
- Custom design pattern designing
- Hand-drawn bulletin board posting
Improved graphics resolution (4K on TV, unknown but likely 1080p on Handheld)
New Megaphone item sold at Nook’s Cranny:
- Use the built-in system microphone to call out your villagers’ names and get a response back to locate them
Online multiplayer limit increased from 8 to 12 players
GameChat integration with USB Cameras over player heads

What Requires Nintendo Switch Online Subscription

Beyond the obvious exclusion of online multiplayer, there are two new features in the Version 3.0 Update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons that will require an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription to enjoy.

Slumber Island (Even in Single Player)

Most notably, the entire Slumber Island feature that allows you to create up to 3 separate islands with creative mode tools appears to be gated behind a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

To be clear, this restriction is not only for collaborating online with other players together, but applies to single player gameplay on slumber islands too.

To remove any doubt, three different sources in English and Japanese appear to confirm this:

The English press release introduces Slumber Island by stating “Players with a Nintendo Switch Online membership can design and save up to three islands” before mentioning playing with friends online.
The English trailer features a “Nintendo Switch Online membership (sold separately) and Nintendo Account required for online features.” disclaimer on screen when Slumber Island is first introduced, again prior to any discussion of the multiplayer aspect.
The Japanese website mentions “Requires Nintendo Switch Online (paid) membership.” underneath the Slumber Island heading.

This is a little disappointing as, in theory, a creative mode type feature shouldn’t inherently require an online service connection.

One explanation is that Slumber Island has likely been designed with the three islands you can decorate stored on Nintendo’s servers at all times. This would function similarly to how the existing Dream Island feature holds a copy online for others to access. And at the same time, this acts as a handy built-in backup for your designed islands.

But regardless of those reasons, it’s honestly a bit lame to have such a major feature that can be played by yourself be tied up behind a paid monthly subscription service.

Plus, as we unfortunately have learned the hard way, any feature in a video game that depends on online services is at high risk of being affected in the future when internet services are discontinued for a system — like what happened on Nintendo 3DS just last year.

There’s a small chance of a misunderstanding here somehow, but the consistent language across multiple sources without any clear indication of specifically multiplayer is concerning. Nintendo has set precedent as well for being particularly strict about online features that aren’t really multiplayer — using Custom Design codes also requires an active online subscription.

Classic Nintendo Games

All players can freely obtain and display the new classic Nintendo console items in their home, but the extra feature of interacting with each system to play an emulated copy of a game for the system is exclusive to active Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.

If it were possible to play a wide selection of retro games for each console inside of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, this would be a lot more understandable. As far as we can tell, though, each system will only feature a single playable game. So it does feel a bit stingy to restrict even a single game per console to subscribers, right? Let me know what you think.

Alright — if you had any remaining questions about exactly what you’ll be getting at what costs, that should answer everything!

Stay tuned to Animal Crossing World for everything on the upcoming Version 3.0 Update of Animal Crossing: New Horizons! Follow us on X, Facebook, Bluesky, and our mailing list below for updates. Or check out our most popular guides like Redd Art, Bush Types & Colors, Villager Houses, Sea Creatures, and K.K. Slider Songs.