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Animal Crossing: New Horizons Summer Update Wave 2 adds fireworks, Luna, and cloud saves

The next major update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons arrives this month and adds a plethora of new content and features.

Donovan Erskine

July 28, 2020 8:20 AM

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons has received consistent content updates since it first launched back in March of this year. The long-awaited installment in the beloved Nintendo franchise allows players to live out their island fantasy, participating in events that correspond to the real world calendar. Nintendo has released a trailer for the upcoming Summer Update Wave 2, which brings about several notable additions to New Horizons. This includes fireworks, Luna, and island cloud saves.

Nintendo posted a new trailer highlighting Summer Update 2 to their official YouTube channel, then shared the video on Twitter. This is the second Summer themed update to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as the previous wave of content added swimming to the game. Animal Crossing: New Horizons Summer Update Wave 2 will release on July 30.

The trailer for Summer Update Wave 2 confirms the addition of fireworks to New Horizons, a staple in the Animal Crossing series. We speculated about the possibility of fireworks’ return shortly after the release of the first Summer Update. In New Horizons, players will be able to use custom DIY designs for the firework show. 

Also revealed to be making a return in Summer Update Wave 2 is Luna. Originally appearing in New Leaf, Luna is a tapir that allows players to visit other islands in their sleep. Players will use their online connection to explore the islands of other players, or even share their own. 

One of the most requested features for Animal Crossing: New Horizons since it launched was the ability to save islands to the cloud, allowing players to keep their progress should they ever change Nintendo Switch systems. Support for cloud saves arrives in Summer Update Wave 2 with the addition of Island Backup Restoration Service. This means that players will no longer be locked to the Switch console that they created their island on.

The end of the trailer teases an upcoming Fall update, which will be free to download for all players. Animal Crossing: New Horizons players will have plenty of new features to dive into when Summer Update Wave 2 launches on July 30, 2020.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_