Animal Crossing: New Horizons DLC That Should've Happened
Elijah King
Published Mar 29, 2026
Animal Crossing: New Horizons missed many opportunities to give players more DLC to let them expand and customize more aspects of their island.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons should have given fans significantly more DLC than the few free updates and one paid DLC that they were given. While Nintendo provided New Horizons players with an ample amount of free updates during the first year of release, there is still an exorbitant amount of content they could have given players. Given the game's popularity, adding more DLC would have been quite successful for players and Nintendo alike.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is currently on version 2.0.4, the update for which was strictly bug fixes, and the game has no more major updates or DLC coming, which could be signs of an Animal Crossing sequel. The lack of further support was announced when version 2.0 and the Happy Home Paradise DLC were released in November 2021. There will still be minor updates for bug fixes and recurring seasonal events, but nothing bigger than that seems to be in the works.
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons's first year of release, eight major free updates were brought to the game adding Redd, the Museum upgrade, Leif, diving and deep-sea creatures, Pascal, dream addresses, and more, including multiple holiday-related events. From March 2021 to November 2021, the only updates were minor bug fixes and reintroducing seasonal events. The last update (2.0) took place in November 2021, but there are so many other updates that could have happened - but didn't.
ACNH Should Have Had An Update To Fix Game Mechanics
While an update to fix game mechanics is not the most exciting or interesting update, it's one that Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans wanted and deserved. Bulk shopping, which is a pain in Animal Crossing, especially from Able's and the Nook Stop, and bulk crafting would have made some of the gameplay less tedious. Crafting tables connected to storage would have been convenient. Even quick fixes like repetitive dialog from Tom Nook and Orville would have been welcomed. While these changes may not have been worthy of a paid DLC, a free update with them would have been ideal.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Should Have Had A Leif-Related DLC
Animal Crossing: New Horizons players were introduced to Leif, the loveable gardening sloth, in late Spring 2020. While Leif has become more prominent since that update, even having his own stall on Harv's Island, more could have been done. With all of the different shrubs and flower breeds players grow in Animal Crossing, players should have had the ability to do more crafting with these resources.
While players can use flowers to make wreaths and flower crowns, there was a missed opportunity to use the flowers to make bouquets or other arrangements or to be able to customize the wreaths and flower crowns more. Players also should have been given more types of fruit trees and crops to grow on their island, which would have led to more cooking recipes as well. Adding new achievements for growing rare hybrids would have also kept the players working on their islands and their flowers more.
ACNH Should Have Had A DLC To Upgrade Shops
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, players could update Timmy and Tommy's shop four times, as opposed to the two (from the resident services tent to the storefront and eventually a larger storefront) in New Horizons. Players should have had the opportunity to upgrade Nook's Cranny more in ACNH so that they could purchase more items in more variations. Upgrading Able's to a larger store with more options would have also been a good addition.
Aside from the shops on the player's island, the stalls on Harv's island deserve to be upgraded as well. Players should be able to upgrade each stall to an actual storefront, giving Kicks, Leif, and others their own shop instead of just a trailer. Creating more ways to buy items in New Horizons, especially considering the rarity of some items, would have been a useful DLC.
ACNH Should Have Had A DLC To Customize Public Buildings
Players of Animal Crossing: New Horizons DLC Happy Home Paradise have an opportunity to design a number of public buildings, including a school, a hospital, and a clothing store. While this did give players something new to do, a new or better DLC idea would have been to combine this idea with the expansion of ACNH NPC stalls on Harv's Island. Letting players create and customize shops for Leif, Kicks, and others would have been a great way to keep players engaged longer and express their creativity even more. While these buildings would not have been able to be added to the player's main island due to space, they easily could have been integrated by adding them to Happy Home Paradise or Harv's Island.
Players also should have been given a DLC to customize the public buildings on their own islands. Happy Home Paradise gave players the ability to eventually customize their villagers' homes, but Able's, Nook's Cranny, the Museum, and Resident Services are still untouchable. Many players have themed islands where the public buildings just don't fit the theme and there is no way to change them.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Should've Had A Co-Op Multiplayer DLC
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has an active online presence already with players visiting each other's Animal Crossing islands and trading items. So much more could have been added in a DLC, though. Multiplayer events or competitions could have been added via a mechanic like Kapp'n's boat rides. Players could be connected with others online like they are in many other Nintendo games and take part in fishing or bug-catching competitions or even mazes like the May Day event. Giving players more opportunities to engage with one another should have happened in a DLC.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Should Have Had A DLC For Multiple Save Files
One of the more frustrating things about Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the fact that players are stuck with just the one island. If a player decides they want to redesign their island they have two options: completely flatten their island which takes ages or delete their save file and restart the game completely. A DLC that allowed players multiple Animal Crossing save files so that they could have multiple islands would easily resolve this conundrum. It would also increase the longevity of the game because players could jump from one island to another without the burden of restarting.
Nintendo at least could give players an opportunity to restart on a new island without losing all of their learned DIYs, items, etc. This would also give players a chance to change their island name and in-game name, which are currently locked once chosen. This is something many players have wanted to be able to do for quite a while.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a loveable game with a decent amount of content to keep players entertained for a good amount of time. However, Nintendo had plenty of opportunities to add more content that could have increased the longevity and success of the game even more. With no new updates planned, hopefully, players will get to see some content related to the above in the next Animal Crossing game.
