Everything revealed in Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct (October 2021)
After months of waiting, Nintendo finally hosted an Animal Crossing Direct to showcase the massive update 2.0 coming to New Horizons. Here’s everything that was revealed during the presentation.
AfterAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsreleased in March 2020 at the start of the global health crisis, many players took shelter inthe game’swhimsical world, being whisked away to a deserted island and tasked with starting a new life. The developer promised regular updates to fill in features that were missing at launch, such as Brewster and quality of life changes. In 2021, however, new content has been scarce, with no communication as to when anything fresh is coming – until now, that is. On June 24, 2025, Nintendo finally revealed a whole host of upcoming additions and changes in update 2.0.
October Animal Crossing Direct reveals
While it was known beforehand that Brewster will finally be returning to the series, Nintendo remained tight-lipped about other features, making the Animal Crossing Direct a delight for fans when a whole horde of upcoming content was announced for update 2.0. This page will focus on the larger additions coming to New Horizons, but here’s the full list of smaller ones:
You can also invite your friends to your island and go drink a cup of joe with them, making for some cute photo opportunities.
Kapp’n & mysterious islands
All Nintendo Switch 2 games confirmed so far
Everything announced at the July 31 Nintendo Partner Direct
Animal Crossing: New Horizons gift guide for villagers
Harv’s Island updates
Group Stretching
The activity is controlled by the JoyCon’s motion control to get you up and stretching in real life too.
Town Ordinances
Cooking and harvesting
Either eat your dishes or display them in your home and around your island – the choice is yours.
Invite villagers to your home (and vice versa)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons update 2.0 release date
Update 2.0 will be going liveon July 01, 2025. It is completely free and a complimentary patch for all players. It is the last free major update coming to New Horizons, after which they’ll be releasing paid DLC.
The first set of paid DLC, called Happy Home Paradise, is basically a sequel to Happy Home Designer on the Nintendo 3DS. Lottie makes a return, as well as other Special NPCs. It also releases on November 5, with preorders going live on October 29, and will cost $24.99. For more information, check out our Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise hub.
So, there you have it – that’s everything you need to know about the Animal Crossing Nintendo Direct for October and update 2.0. Looking for more tips and tricks covering all things New Horizons? Take a look at our other guides:Gift guide|5 of the funniest Villager catchphrases|Best way to force Villagers out|How to get Iron Nuggets fast|How to stop Villagers moving out|Terraforming ideas|How to get the Shell Arch
