What Can We Expect for Animal Crossing New Horizons 2024?

In 2023, 2 years after last being updated, New Horizons is very often called a dead game with dwindling active players and lack of major new content updates from Nintendo. But interestingly enough, it seems to be going through a bit of a revival in the last half of 2023 and then coming into 2024. While there may not be any official announcements regarding updates or a new title, we can expect some updates in 2024. 

Good News for ACNH Heading into 2024!

Back in 2022, the game really felt very dead and that's because it was the first year we had without any updates at all and we haven't seen any in 2023, but it seems like maybe with a bit of time going past, a lot of people have been returning to the game and new players are still coming in all of the time. Nintendo is also still doing a lot to try and encourage people to come to the game without releasing any new content. We've seen things like the release of the new Animal Crossing switch light and it definitely seems like it's Nintendo's goal for a lot of people to buy this and play Animal Crossing for the first time over the holiday season. So really we should see an even larger uptick of people this year. 

Last year in 2022, we didn't have any kind of release like this for Animal Crossing at all. Nintendo has actually been doing a ton to promote this over the holiday season as well. But it goes even further than that as well, we can't forget about the major Lego collaboration which will be happening in March. That's seems like another way for Nintendo to promote Animal Crossing even more, so that we'll probably see even more people come to New Horizons in 2024. We all know that the switch is basically in its last year of life, we'll see a new console soon. Nintendo still seemingly wants a lot of people to be playing New Horizons and whilst. This isn't as good as getting new content or updates for the game. We are seeing a bit of a Revival for New Horizons at the end point of this year coming into 2024. The game isn't nearly as bustling as it was throughout 2020 and 2021, that just makes sense because the game was getting updates back then.

What Can We Expect for Animal Crossing New Horizons 2024? 

- Features That Could Return: Animal Crossing: New Horizons introduced several beloved features that could potentially make a return in the next game. These include dream addresses, terraforming, wetsuits, The Roost cafe, and group stretching activities.

- Paid DLC Potential: While free updates are appreciated, dedicated fans have expressed hopes for another meaningful paid expansion similar to Happy Home Paradise. Nintendo has seen the clear commercial potential in New Horizons DLC compared to other Animal Crossing titles. With years of additional content ideas already brainstormed online, it seems likely we may see another major piece of downloadable content at some point in 2023 or 2024 to further extend the game's longevity.

- Quality of Life Updates Continue: Looking ahead, quality of life adjustments like additional home/island customization, new dialogue/interactions over time, minigames, island backup saves, and expanded crafting/gardening are all possibilities. Maintaining player goodwill depends on addressing feedback through steady quality of life updates old and new players will appreciate.