2020 was a quiet year for Nintendo on the whole, but it still had one big hit on its hands thanks toAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.It had been quite a long time since Nintendo released a new mainlineAnimal Crossinggame, soAnimal Crossing: New Horizonswas a welcome addition to the franchise. Even so, the game’s success is on a scale that even Nintendo might not have expected. It just happened to be the perfect game to pick up at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, giving people everywhere a fun new way to simulate the outdoors and interact with their friends at a safe distance.
Nintendo clearly knows thatAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsis still a heavy hitter, because it recently confirmed thatNew Horizonswill get more updates this year. The game may be a year and a half old, but it doesn’t look like Nintendo is done supporting it. However, free updates aren’t the only way it should supportNew Horizons,though. In recent years, Nintendo seems to have warmed up to the idea of paid DLC, putting it in a few different games and raking in a lot of cash for it. As such, it ought to consider putting together some optional paid DLCs forAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsalongside the game’s regular updates.
RELATED:5 Indie Games to Play When Finished with Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The Case for Animal Crossing: New Horizons Expansions
Nintendo didn’t always make use of DLCs, but it’s changed its tune in recent years. The fourthSuper Smash Bros.game for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS offered purchasable DLC characters, andSmash Ultimatepicked up on that trendto much success. That’s not the only example, though. Nintendo famously broke its own conventions by creating paid expansions forThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,adding new missions for Link. There’s also the recent expansions forPokemon SwordandShield,which introduced new parts of Galar to explore and hundreds of Pokemon previously missing fromSwordandShield.All of these DLCs have been pretty big hits, so odds seem good that Nintendo will keep experimenting with DLC in the future.
It’s true that not everybody is happy with Nintendo’s new trend of paid expansions. For instance, some fans remain critical oftheSwordandShieldDLCsfor adding Pokemon that they believe should’ve been in the base game to begin with. However, that highlights howAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsDLC can succeed. The difference betweenNew Horizonsand the latestPokemongames is that it doesn’t have glaring omissions that Nintendo could fix through expansions.New Horizonsis already very well received, so Nintendo can focus on adding more ways to enjoy the experience, rather than using DLC to fill in the gaps. So long as Nintendo follows that rule while creating DLC in the future, it should be met with a better reception. It’s overwhelmingly difficult for an expansion to overhaul the reception of a game, but an expansion can always enhance a game that fans already love.
RELATED:Nintendo Switch: All the Joy-Con Designs Released So Far
Imagining Animal Crossing: New Horizons DLC
There’s quite a few ways that Nintendo could go when it comes to anAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsDLC. For instance, Nintendo could offer fans some DLC-exclusive villagers. There’s dozens of characters that don’t show up inNew Horizons,especiallyvillagers from very earlyAnimal Crossinggames, so a collection of classic villagers might appeal to longtime fans ofAnimal Crossing.Similarly, there’s some villagers exclusive to newer games likeAnimal Crossing: Pocket Campthat might make good DLCs, appealing to fans who enjoyed the mobile game in the years betweenAnimal Crossing: New LeafandAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.
Nintendo doesn’t have to stop at villagers of games gone by, though. It could also introduce some surprising brand new villagers lifted from other Nintendo IPs. Technically Nintendo has done this before – previousAnimal Crossinggames gaveThe Legend of Zeldafans the option to getTwilight Princess' Wolf Link,Ocarina of Time’s Epona, andthe infamous demon king Ganonas villagers. Nintendo could easily bring these characters back as DLCs and then some. For instance, it could go so far as to add exclusive non-animal villagers in the form of famous Nintendo characters. Characters like Mario and Princess Peach could add a fun twist to anyNew Horizonsvillage.
Beyond villagers, there’s no end to the amount of cosmetics Nintendo could offer as DLC.New Horizons' recentSuper Marioevent was warmly received, so there’s no reason it couldn’t do similar themed expansions for various Nintendo franchises. For instance,Pikmin-themed decorations would be a charming additionto a player’s garden, while furniture based onThe Legend of Zelda, Splatoon,and so on could help fans recreate their favorite game hubs and show off their love of a franchise inside their villager’s home. There’s always room for more decoration options inAnimal Crossing.
New Horizons is Here to Stay
One wonders just how likely it is that Nintendo decides to capitalize onAnimal Crossing: New Horizons' success. More than a year after the game’s release would seem like a strange time to announce DLC, but there’s really no reason Nintendo couldn’t do so. Upcoming updates toNew Horizonsprove Nintendo is still working on free content for the game, so it could easily pivot into making some paid DLC content too. It should also be noted thatNew Horizons' surprise popularitymay have changed Nintendo’s perspective on DLC for the game. If it wasn’t considering optional expansions before, it might be considering them now.
There’s certainly a lot of money to be made by investing inNew HorizonsDLC. After all this time, there’s stillAnimal Crossingfans playing the game fervently, creating impressive things likerecreations of famousPokemonlocations. As long as these fans keep crafting breathtaking islands, there’ll be a market for exclusiveAnimal Crossingcontent. Even if Nintendo doesn’t opt into making DLCs forNew Horizons,though, it’s comforting to know that the game’s future is secure. Hopefully Nintendo will keep updating the game into 2022, diligently adding more items to collect and craft.Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis already an influential title in the series with a lot of experimental mechanics, so it wouldn’t be out of place for Nintendo to experiment with DLC too.
