Animal Crossing: New Horizons to limit to one island per Nintendo Switch

Fans of Animal Crossing are finally about to see a full-fledged game come to a new console when Animal Crossing: New Horizons comes to the Nintendo Switch. It promises players a solo or cooperative experience, exploring your own or other players’ tropical islands, and making it your own little paradise. However, if you’re looking to start multiple islands among friends or family on the same Nintendo Switch, you may be out of luck. Nintendo has stated that there will only be one island per copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, per Nintendo Switch console.

The odd restriction was discovered in the italicized print of the game page for Animal Crossing: New Horizon on Nintendo’s Australian website, as discovered by ACPocketNews on January 30, 2020. The crux of concern lies in the fine print beyond the game description, which states the following.

“Please note: only one island can exist per Nintendo Switch console, irrespective of the number of users registered to or copies of the game used on one console,” the page states. “One Nintendo Switch and one copy of the game is required for each unique island.”

One of the coolest features of Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a unique island you can make your own in single player, locally with up to four players, or online with up to eight players. Unfortunately, you only seem to get one island per system.

The bottom line of Nintendo’s fine print is that it would seem that regardless of whether or not you have multiple accounts, different players, or more, you will only be able to have one saved island on a single Nintendo Switch console and Animal Crossing copy. It’s unfortunate to say the least for folks who want to do their own thing on the same Nintendo Switch system. It’s especially strange that different Animal Crossing islands can’t seemingly be relegated to singular Nintendo Switch accounts, regardless of whether or not you have multiple Nintendo Switch Online accounts. Also odd is that the italicized print is not on the US Nintendo website product page for Animal Crossing. Shacknews has reached out to ask if the stipulation is indeed universal.

The hype for Animal Crossing is real. The Desert Getaway looks delightful alone or with others, and the new limited edition Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch seems like a wonderful addition to the gaming shelf. Will not being able to play different islands from the same console leave a sour taste in your mouth? Let us know in the Shacknews Chatty comment section below.