Summary
After the massive success ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, fans of the series are eagerly awaiting to see how Nintendo follows up. Unfortunately, a recent rumor suggests that the nextAnimal Crossinggame isn’t planned to be released until 2026, potentially creating a six-year gap betweenAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsand the next entry in the series. While theAnimal Crossingcontent drought might continue for longer than some fans might be expecting, the rumored 2026 release window for this next title will hopefully result in a better overall experience.
Alongside this 2026 release window, therecentAnimal Crossingrumoralso suggests that this next game will incorporate a variety of features that are reminiscent ofAnimal Crossing: City Folkon the Wii. Allegedly, this new game will include a larger city with vehicles for transportation and a shopping center that will allow players to sell their designs to others. The game will also apparently place a greater emphasis on multiplayer activities, with a variety of mini-games for players to enjoy together, but fans will still have to wait a while to experience these features if this rumor is accurate.
The Next Animal Crossing’s Rumored 2026 Release Window Stings for New Horizons Fans
WhileAnimal Crossing: New Horizonswas a huge revitalization for the series, becoming thesecond best-selling game on the Switch as of February 2024, the game was not without controversy, particularly surrounding its post-launch content.Animal Crossing: New Horizonswas missing features like the Roost and Gyroids at release, but this content was slowly added over time via updates in the months following. However, this stream of content ended with a final 2.0 update in November 2021, only a little over a year after launch, leaving players hungry for more content in the time since.
If the nextAnimal Crossinggame really isn’t coming out until 2026, then the six years between releases will make the limited amount of post-launch content forAnimal Crossing: New Horizonssting all the more.Animal Crossingfans are already used to waiting for long development periods between games, with an eight-year gap betweenAnimal Crossing: New LeafandAnimal Crossing: New Horizons. At least in that case, fans had theWelcome amiibo update forNew Leafin 2016to breathe new life into the game ahead ofNew Horizons, but it seems like fans won’t have the same luck with this entry.
A 2026 Release Window Might Be a Blessing in Disguise for the Next Animal Crossing
It might be disheartening for fans to hear that a newAnimal Crossinggame might not be coming until 2026, but this release window could be a good sign for the quality of the game’s content. Similar to howNew Horizonsgreatly built upon the foundation ofNew Leaf’s customizationoptions, the long development cycle for this next entry could point towards the game addressing some of the concerns fans had aboutNew Horizons. If these rumors are true, then it seems like this nextAnimal Crossinggame will go a long way to improve upon the multiplayer components that were lacking inNew Horizons.
Additionally, a 2026 release window basically confirms that the nextAnimal Crossinggame will be developed with Nintendo’s next console in mind. With theSwitch 2 likely releasing in 2025, many fans were expecting Nintendo to have a newAnimal Crossinggame as a launch title after how successfulNew Horizonswas at selling Switch consoles. However, waiting a year after the console’s release makes it more likely that the nextAnimal Crossinggame will be able to avoid any potential hardware quirks the system may have, ensuring that it can deliver the best experience possible at the peak of the console’s life.
