Nintendo and Animal Crossing fans have been teeming with excitement since the announcement of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 Update was announced in its own Nintendo Direct event. Animal Crossing: New Horizons players have been eagerly counting down the days before launch and pre-planning what they intend to do when all the new content drops. Well, they can subtract two fewer days as the highly anticipated 2.0 Update is now available.
Nintendo suddenly released the 2.0 update early with little fanfare, a bit surprising since it will be the last major update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. There was no tweet from any Nintendo Twitter account nor the dedicated Animal Crossing account, allowing viral marketing to fully take hold and spread the good news. Once fans were made aware via social media that the update was available early, many immediately returned to their islands to check things out.
The Animal Crossing: New Horizon update wasn't expected until November 5, as that was what Nintendo previously advertised. Once fans have gotten through the 6.2 GB download, they are now free to start working through the new content like setting up their farms, searching for gyroid fragments, or having Kapp'n take them to secret islands to search for new plants while singing sea shanties. The gyroids are needed as part of a longer questline to obtain The Roost Cafe Museum expansion. Once done coaxing Brewster to the island with gyroids, The Roost Cafe will be a new area for players to visit where they can buy coffee from Brewster for 200 Bells and invite other players or other villagers for a sip.
The update will also bring new island activities such as island ordinances from Isabelle to get villagers to be more constructive, new group activities, new tools, and the new first-person camera. New vegetables from those newly acquired farming capabilities are also being introduced and can be used in cooking recipes. Villagers can now surprise players at home in what was once a one-way arrangement. Harv's Island is also being updated to act as a hub for merchants that previously came to player islands inconsistently. There, they will be able to earn new player customization options from Harv's friend Harriet and furniture customization from Reese and Cyrus.
All of this is a preamble to the Happy Home Paradise DLC that is still coming on November 5. None of that content was made available when the 2.0 Update was released. With all the content coming in this update, Nintendo probably saw it fit to have players start early on a few tasks before the DLC comes out.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now available on Nintendo Switch and the Happy Home Paradise DLC releases on November 5th.