Animal Crossing: New Horizons players will not be able to access their islands in the future. This might come as a shock to some, but fortunately the date that will render the game unplayable is distant enough that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will likely have a successor or two for fans to enjoy in its stead.
The Animal Crossing franchise is known for its light-hearted and relaxing gameplay that encourages creativity and exploration. The latest series entry New Horizons is one of the best games to play during a work break since it imposes no time limits or other pressure to complete tasks, enabling players to pick the game up and put it down at a moment's notice.
It appears that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be unplayable after the year 2060, as Redditor AdTrue4863 discovered presumably by tweaking the date settings on their Nintendo Switch. This is nearly 40 years in the future, by which time the Switch and all its software will be relics. The workaround is simple enough though as players simply have to modify the date on their Switch to somewhere between the years 2000 and 2060 to access their islands once again. One can only imagine what video games might look like in the year 2060, especially considering how far the medium has come in the last few decades.
By the year 2060 it is also possible that New Horizons could be the subject of a remake or be made available on a hypothetical future Nintendo console via a service analogous to the modern Nintendo Switch Online. Animal Crossing fans are a creative bunch and will likely find a way to play their favorite titles should this not come to pass. It is interesting to think about what the gaming landscape will be in 40 years time. By then New Horizons could be a relatively primitive experience akin to playing titles like the original Pac-Man and Zork today, both of which launched in 1980.
While the future of video games is as exciting as it is uncertain, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be remembered as one of the best-selling titles on the Switch platform. The Switch itself launched just over 6 years ago on March 3, 2017, and is considered by many to be showing its age when compared to other modern consoles. This poses a challenge for developers who wish to launch more graphically demanding titles on the aging system. That said, Nintendo has found success with comparatively weaker hardware than their competitors for some time now, thanks in no small part to its first-party games like Animal Crossing.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.