Your Animal Crossing: New Horizons Save Can Only Be Recovered Once
Hold on to your Switch extra tight.
This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting ready to jet off, but some more details about its save recovery system might make travelers a little uneasy. While you will be able to recover your data in the case of a stolen or damaged Nintendo Switch, you only get one chance.
In an Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct today, Nintendo confirmed that Nintendo Switch Online members could only recover their island's save data once. It was previously confirmed that New Horizons would not support the use of cloud saves, or the transfer of files from one Switch to another.
This means if you own two Nintendo Switch consoles, like a base console and a Switch Lite, you won't be able to move your island between the two. Today's confirmation also means if you either damage or lose your console more than once, you probably won't be able to get your island back. Also, this save recovery won't be available at launch, so try to be careful with your Switch.
Today's Direct also showcased Animal Crossing: New Horizon's new features and upgraded facilities, like the museum and the new Nook Phone. Keeping with the online restrictions, it also confirmed the limitations on players living on a single island, on a single Switch.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is also making use of that Nintendo Switch Online app for phones. Using it, you can import designs from older Animal Crossing games like New Leaf into New Horizons, to turn into apparel and other things. It will also supposedly have voice chat, though it seems like an Animal Crossing game's voice chat should really modulate your chatter into that syncopated AC-speak.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons sets sail on March 20, 2020 for the Nintendo Switch.