Nintendo has revealed what new features will be added in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons summer update, today announcing that its Wave 2 summer update will include Luna, a Fireworks Show, and an Island Backup service. The Animal Crossing summer update will release for free on July 30, 2020, bringing with it a bunch of new features for players. So what’s in this brand new update?
There are a few major additions in the new ACNH summer update. The first is Fireworks Shows, which will take place every Sunday starting in August from 7 PM. These include custom fireworks you can create yourself, and raffle tickets you can purchase from Redd to get festive items you can use. Given Redd’s prior history, we imagine this raffle won’t be completely above board, but it should be home to a number of exciting items nonetheless.
Dreaming will also be added, with Luna allowing you to journey to other players’ islands in a dreamy state. This will enable you to tinker with other islands without making any actual changes, as anything you do on an island while dreaming doesn’t alter them permanently.
Finally, Nintendo is also adding an Island Backup and Restoration Service, which will allow players to back up their islands in case of a game fault, theft, or any other issue which would cause an island to be deleted. This will not make use of cloud saving, but will instead be a feature specific to Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Animal Crossing Summer Update Wave 2 patch notes
The full list of features currently revealed by Nintendo for the Animal Crossing: New Horizons summer update is as follows:
- Fireworks Shows – Enjoy atmospheric fireworks lighting up the sky above your island every Sunday in August at 7 p.m. Get in the spirit by redeeming Bells for raffle tickets in the plaza to get various festive items that you can use. Put your personal spin on the fireworks display by using your own custom design pattern to see it shot in the air as a firework in the sky!
- Dreaming – You can now choose to take a nap in any bed placed in your home.** While dozing off, you may find yourself in a strange realm where you’ll be greeted by Luna. Luna offers visits to other islands as a dream, and with her help, you can share your island as a dream with others too.*** She will grant those who share their island a “Dream Address” which players can exchange and use to visit each other’s island in a dream. In dreams, nothing is permanent because nothing you do is saved, so explore to your heart’s content.
- Island Backup & Restoration Service – Nintendo Switch Online members can enable the new island backup service, which automatically uploads island and user save data to the internet at certain times. If your Nintendo Switch system is lost or damaged, you may be able to recover your island paradise as long as you’ve enabled island backup. In the event of loss or damage, contact Nintendo Consumer Support about restoring the island and user save data on your new or repaired Nintendo Switch system. After your island data and individual player data is restored, you can get back to building your island community!**** Additional details can be found on the Nintendo Consumer Support page when the update goes live. The island backup feature is separate from the Save Data Cloud functionality offered for select Nintendo Switch games through Nintendo Switch Online. A function specific to Animal Crossing: New Horizons to move users and save data to another system is planned for later this year. Details will be announced in the future.
