Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Brings 4K, Mouse Controls, 12 Player Online In January

2 days ago Justin 4 Comments

A new Nintendo Switch 2 Edition for Animal Crossing: New Horizons is coming early next year almost six years after the original game’s launch!

Available as either an upgrade pack for existing players at $4.99 USD or in a new release for new players at $64.99 USD, Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition will release on January 15th, 2026 introducing new features exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2. A free update for all players with major additions releases on the same day too.

Here’s a complete and detailed rundown of everything new you can enjoy in the new Nintendo Switch 2 Edition:

Improved 4K Resolution

Animal Crossing: New Horizons benefited from improved frame rate and loading time performance on the new Nintendo Switch 2 without an update as we tested in-depth earlier this year, but the game’s existing resolution caps remained in place.

With the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, you can now enjoy the beautiful graphics and visuals of Animal Crossing in sharper 4K resolution when playing on TV Mode. Nintendo didn’t specify details for playing in handheld mode, but it’s likely that the game now runs at a native 1080p matching the Nintendo Switch 2’s improved display.

New Joy-Con 2 Mouse Controls for Decorating & Designing

Taking advantage of the Joy-Con 2’s special mouse controls feature on Nintendo Switch 2, Animal Crossing: New Horizons now supports a moving cursor!

Use the new mouse controls to move furniture items around your home with drag and drop, create custom designs, or write drawn messages on the island’s bulletin board.

Megaphone Item Returns Using Microphone

The Megaphone tool item from Animal Crossing: New Leaf in 2012 makes a grand return in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Animal Crossing: New Horizons!

Using the system’s built-in microphone, you can yell a villager’s name with the Megaphone to hear a response back from the villager. Then you can follow the direction that your villager’s message came from to easily locate them!

12 Players Online Multiplayer Expansion

Animal Crossing: New Horizons already set a new standard with up to 8 player online multiplayer on a single island, but the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition raises the bar up to an impressive 12 players online at once!

This increased limit will only work when playing exclusively with other Nintendo Switch 2 players though, so there’s no mixing and matching with original Switch owners.

As cool as it is to have so many players on one island though, this addition seems a little underwhelming as there’s still no mention of island mini-games making a return from New Leaf.

Integrated Camera Support

Complete integration with Nintendo Switch 2’s GameChat and camera features come with this new edition of Animal Crossing: New Horizons too. When connecting a USB Camera accessory to your system and joining a GameChat session, you can see picture-in-picture camera bubbles above your friends in-game!

That covers all of the new additions exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 owners, but more new features are coming in a free Version 3.0 Update next year too! Learn more about absolutely everything coming in that free update here.

Let us know in the comments below if you’ll be upgrading to the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition — if you have a Switch 2 at all to begin with!

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.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons News Nintendo Switch 2 Version 3.0 Update