best-selling Nintendo Switch game) in part because seasonal updates with new items and features have been continually added to the game over the course of the last year. Many of those seasonal updates are time-sensitive in nature, which leads to players scrambling to collect all the new items before time runs out.
Hot off the heels of the game's Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary event, which added new Mario-themed items for Animal Crossing players to collect, a new batch of spring-centric items will be making their way to the game. There are a few more surprises in store as well, some of which players will have to pay up for if they want to complete their collections.
While there are new Animal Crossing items to collect, the New Horizons anniversary update will also be improving island life for players with a few new features as well - plus, there's cake! Here's what all is coming when the Animal Crossing: New Horizons anniversary update lands on March 18.
New Items & Features In New Horizons' Anniversary Update
The newest Animal Crossing update isn't as huge or substantial as some fans were perhaps hoping for, but there are some nice new features being added, in addition to new spring-themed items and a few other surprises. For starters, there will be cake! It wouldn't be an anniversary celebration without some sweets, so to kick off the update, Nintendo will be mailing every player with the update installed a 1st Anniversary Cake. It's hard to beat free cake.
To celebrate the coming of spring and all that entails, there will be some new, limited-time Animal Crossing seasonal items for New Horizons players to acquire. At the end of this month (from March 26 to April 1 to be exact) just in time for April Fool's Day, players can purchase various colored whoopie cushions from the Nook Shopping service. Then, from April 1 to April 30, players can purchase prom-themed items, including new wallpaper, flooring, and a prom sash.
Features wise, a couple of improvements are coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons' systems. The Custom Design app of player's Nookphone is getting an upgrade at the cost of Nook Miles. Called the Custom Design Pro Editor +, this upgraded design app allows players even more customization power, as well as adding 50 additional slots to both the Normal Custom Design mode and Pro Custom Design mode. The Custom Design Portal found in the Able Sisters store will also now be an app found directly in the Nookphone, allowing players to use it anytime, anywhere.
Last but not least, a collaboration between Sanrio (the Japanese company known for cute mascots like Hello Kitty) and Nintendo will be arriving with the update in the form of the Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Pack. This physical pack of amiibo cards includes various Sanrio characters who will visit player's islands, as well as add Sanrio-themed items for purchase via bells. But there is a catch; this new content must be purchased with real money and is exclusively sold at Target for 5.99. No doubt demand will be high for the Sanrio Collaboration pack, so players will need to act fast if they want to secure the DLC for themselves.
While the actual anniversary part of the anniversary update isn't much, there are plenty of new features and items being added in the weeks ahead for Animal Crossing: New Horizons players to sink their teeth into. Enjoy the free cake!
