

Unlike previous consoles, the Nintendo Switch is not region locked outside of Tencent consoles released in China. Īs of December 31, 2022, the Nintendo Switch family has sold 122.55 million units worldwide, making it both Nintendo's best-selling home console after the Wii and second best-selling handheld behind the Nintendo DS, as well as the third best-selling video game platform of all-time behind both the DS and Sony's PlayStation 2. In September 2020, Nintendo announced the special edition console would return to retailers. Prior to the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nintendo released a special edition of the Switch for a limited time that features a New Horizons-themed dock and Joy-Cons. The Nintendo Switch's built-in screenshot feature allows screenshots to be taken with the tap of a special square button on Nintendo Switch controllers this also makes Animal Crossing: New Horizons the first mainline game not use an in-game screenshot system.


As such, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the first game in the Animal Crossing series where online is limited to paid users. The Nintendo Switch ecosystem was the first Nintendo system to use a paid online service known as Nintendo Switch Online. Similar to the DS and 3DS, cartridges serve as the physical format of its games. The Switch is a hybrid device: players can play it as a handheld console or as a home console using a TV-connected dock. On September 13, 2018, Nintendo announced a teaser for the then-untitled Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and after being delayed, was released on March 20, 2020. Officially revealed via a trailer posted on Nintendo's YouTube and social media channels on October 20, 2016, it was released worldwide on March 3, 2017, with a suggested retail price of US$299.99. The Nintendo Switch, codenamed "NX", is a hybrid gaming console and is Nintendo's current video game console.
