Pre-load for Animal Crossing: New Horizons is live right now. If you’re one of the hardcore Switch owners who snagged a copy during pre-order, you can start downloading and installing the game now so you’re ready when it actually launches. If you haven’t already reserved your digital copy, it’s pretty easy. Assuming you’re already logged in to your Nintendo Account, you just need to go to the Nintendo website and pre-order the game. If you’re confused about the pre-order process, check out official Nintendo support for more details.
When you’re ready to start preloading Animal Crossing: New Horizons and you pre-ordered your copy, it’s pretty simple from there. Turn on your Switch console and head to the Nintendo eShop tab. The game will already be listed in the shop catalog, so just open the page. You may need to confirm your pre-order details on the website to begin your download though, so just be aware of that.
Also, keep in mind bandwidth constraints. The game on initial download comes in at 6.2 GB in size. So if you’re on a tight metered connection, be aware of how much bandwidth you have. Luckily you have plenty of time to download the game since we’re more than a month from release on the Switch. And if you’re running out of storage space on your Switch, it might be time to upgrade your storage with a new SD card.
The release date for Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch is March 20; but timezones come into play, so keep an eye out for the timezone in your area and be sure you know what time the game actually unlocks in your area. If you’re on the east coast of the USA, expect the game to unlock around midnight on that day. Those on the west coast of the United States will get it a bit earlier, with the unlock happening at 9 pm on March 19th.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the long-awaited sequel to the long-running social sim and city-builder hybrid. Meet new friends and make friendships with new neighbors, all while building out your town and taking on various tasks for the locals. Each player is in charge of their own unique island and can style it to their liking as well. And completing the aforementioned tasks will give you special rewards that can be used to spice up your digs. Multiplayer is available with up to eight players as well.
And if you have not bought your copy of the game yet, don’t worry. Nintendo even bundled a new Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch bundle that has a sick color scheme that comes with the game for free. You can grab that on Amazon right now.
