Nintendo frames big Animal Crossing and Splatoon updates as support for Switch 2

Nintendo kicked off 2026 with large updates for legacy Switch titles, including Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 and Splatoon 11.0.0.

Animal Crossing's 3.0 added a hotel feature that brings offshore strangers to your island as tourists and delivers enhanced visuals on Switch 2. Splatoon's 11.0.0 brought major gameplay changes, including the new Flow Aura mechanic for kill streaks and health bars that display approximate HP for allies and opponents.

During an investor presentation, president Shuntaro Furukawa outlined the company's philosophy on releasing significant updates for older Switch games and suggested they can serve as a pathway for fans to migrate to Switch 2 at their own pace. The report notes Furukawa's remarks were run through machine translation, so the precise wording is unclear.

nintendo, animal crossing: new horizons 3.0, splatoon 11.0.0, switch 2, hotel feature, offshore strangers, tourists, enhanced visuals, flow aura mechanic, kill streaks, health bars, approximate hp, allies and opponents, president shuntaro furukawa