"New Horizons is far from a dead game, but its massive playerbase-which swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic-has, naturally, fell off. Those of us who spent hundreds of hours on our New Horizons islands for a year and a half have moved on; many of us haven't visited our islands since. We've left messes on our islands, and remain forever indebted to Tom Nook."
"The new content and quality-of-life improvements it introduces make Nintendo's 3.0 update the push many players needed to return to the game. But that raises a big question: To nuke or not to nuke? For some players, like Lemmy, the New Horizons 3.0 update was the perfect excuse not only to return to the game, but also to make a fresh start. "When I saw and heard about the update it persuaded me to restart," he said. "I did that just before the new year.""
Nintendo's 3.0 update and Switch 2 upgrade for New Horizons will be released on January 15, the first major update since 2021. New Horizons experienced a surge in players during the COVID-19 pandemic but has seen player activity decline as many stopped visiting their islands. Many long-term players left unfinished islands, abandoned economies, and villagers that have had to fend for themselves. The 3.0 update includes new content and quality-of-life improvements that prompted many players to return. Some players are choosing to completely restart their islands, while others are returning to maintain or refresh existing islands. Lemmy played daily for a year, slowed over six months, fully stopped in summer 2023, and restarted his island just before the new year because of the update. YouTuber Morri Koester has played New Horizons for more than 5,000 hours and built a dozen or so islands.
Read at Kotaku
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