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It's finally happening - Nintendo confirms Animal Crossing Switch for a 2019 release date

James Billcliffe avatar
News by James Billcliffe Guides Editor
Published on

It’s actually happening! Nintendo confirmed at last night’s Nintendo Direct that Animal Crossing Switch is real, and that it’s coming in 2019.

After gutting disappointments at E3 and subsequent Directs, rumours that Animal Crossing Switch would finally be announced reached fever pitch on Twitter in the run-up to the show. But first came another Animal Crossing announcement: Isabelle is joining the Super Smash Bros Ultimate roster.

That news came alongside a new character trailer which you can watch below:

Animal Crossing Switch:

But when all looked lost, a certain tenacious tanuki appeared on screen. In a bit of 4th wall-breaking fun, turns out Tom Nook needs to build a nice home for Isabelle and The Villager once they’re done scrapping with Snake and Ridley in Smash.

Details are pretty scant at the moment, we didn’t get a full title other than “Animal Crossing”, and that it will be releasing some time in 2019. That could mean any time in 2019, but we can expect that it’ll be later on in the year - Spring at least - since if the game was only a few months away then Nintendo may have been clearer with the release window.

As for characters, we can be pretty sure that Tom Nook will return. The only other characters that we saw in the Direct were Isabelle and Pete. But seeing as there are loads of Animal Crossing Amiibo, it’d be sad if the following characters didn’t at least come to visit when you use their figure:

  • Blathers
  • Celeste
  • Cyrus
  • Digby
  • K.K. Slider
  • Kapp’n
  • Kicks
  • Lottie
  • Mabel
  • Reese
  • Mr. Resetti
  • Rover
  • Timmy and Tommy

Nintendo didn’t announce a special edition switch to coincide with the game, but two did appear - for Smash Bros and Pokemon Let’s GO - so that sets a good precedent that we might get one further down the road.

As for other announcements, if you’re in the mood for something completely different to Animal Crossing Switch then you’re in luck. Space-ninja MMO Warframe is coming to Nintendo’s hybrid console in November.

Long-time Pokemon developer Gamefreak also announced a new game - Town - also out in 2019.

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