Nintendo irks Animal Crossing fans over New Horizons’ save file restrictions

Fans of the Animal Crossing series are upset over the limitations that will be imposed on the save files of the upcoming New Horizons, which may have prompted a response from Nintendo.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is set to launch on March 20 for the Nintendo Switch. A leaked copy of the game’s download brochure in Germany, however, created controversy as it revealed restrictions to save files.

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New Horizons is already the most successful entry in the entire franchise. It’s also the most extensive release by far, adding intricacies on top of familiar challenges.

The brochure revealed that players can only create one island per Nintendo Switch, and that is it not possible to transfer save data to other consoles. Nintendo said that cloud saves are not allowed for the game because it utilizes time mechanics, and cloud saves may allow players to rewind and change time. Meanwhile, all the registered users on a Nintendo Switch will be living on the same island.

The restriction to Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ save files means that once players start the game on a console, they will not be able to continue their save on another console in case they upgrade their Nintendo Switch, or if their device breaks or gets stolen. This will also make the game troublesome for players who use the Nintendo Switch Lite while on the go, then use the Nintendo Switch at home to continue their games on a TV.

The limitations, which were confirmed by producer Higashi Nogami, caused an uproar among the Animal Crossing community, as seen on the Reddit thread on the leaked brochure. Reactions to the restrictions include skipping the game, as well as hacking the console to be able to back up their save files.

Fortunately, it appears that Nintendo is at least considering a way to enable a save backup feature for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

“This game does not support the Save Data Cloud functionality of Nintendo Switch Online. However, the ability to recover Animal Crossing: New Horizons save data from the server in the event of console failure, loss or theft will be available to Nintendo Switch Online members sometime in the future,” according to Nintendo U.K.’s website.

It is unclear if the statement is a direct response to the backlash against Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ save data limitations, but it appears that players will have to wait to find out how exactly the feature will work and when it will be rolled out.