With the recent Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Direct, we have a wealth of new information.

Along with players being able to select their island, they can choose from the northern or southern hemisphere, to adjust what the weather will be like as the seasons roll around. The changing seasons also change what activities you can do.

After this, players can decide where they put their tent, along with the tents of the other residents. The player can also upgrade their tent into a full blown home, with more space and storage space. The home can be customized even further, and expanded. The debt you earn from setting up a home has no time-limit or interest.

Players will also be able to craft tools and furniture, and even decorate furniture with custom designs. Players are also given a NookPhone. In addition to using the map and camera, players can unlock more “apps” as they progress, and even earn “Nook Miles” for completing objectives.

These can be used to pay off your debt of your trip, and later for rewards, such as useful items and even tickets to other islands. Players can also undertake “Island Tours” to gather extra resources from other random islands.

While one player can call up to three other friends to their island, up to eight players can “live” on a single island, with each player having their own user account on the console. Players can be invited by local wi-fi, or from over the internet.

Even the landscape is more customizable and explorable. Players can now vault over rivers, use ladders to climb up elevated land, as well as create bridges, slopes, and paths. You can even change the terrain to, change the paths of rivers, and create or demolish cliffs! These abilities come once the island is “fully decked out.”

There is also interaction with past Animal Crossing games. As part of the Nintendo Switch Online app “Nooklink” will allow players to scan Custom Design QR Code patterns from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and use them in the new game.

Nooklink will also allow players to talk to each other via their smartphone, or text chat. The Nooklink service will launch in March 2020.

The game will also have free updates, with season events. The first will happen on the game’s launch to celebrate Bunny Day in April. Players with access to both New Horizons and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will receive special items at a later date.

These special events will also lead to tourists coming to the island. These guests can bring items you otherwise cannot obtain, and will take part in Fishing Tourneys and Bug-Offs. Some residents may even wash-up as castaways as your island grows!

As the island grows and more residents come to stay, more facilities will become available. These include a museum, a shop for furniture (and items the player cannot make), a tailor for clothing items, and a campsite for guests and other activities.

Players can also reserve specific places on their island for future residents to move into, rather than have them be randomly placed on the island as some past games did. Players can also move the locations of shops and facilities around.

Finally, the game will utilize amiibo. With the appropriate figures and cards, players can invite characters to your island, and the “Phototopia” booth to take special photos with their special guests.

Curiously, while the game will not use the Nintendo Switch Online service’s save data back-up, the direct explains that they will soon introduce a service to recover data in cases where a console has been damaged or lost one time.*

We are sure you are eager to see some of the smaller details, so you can find the whole direct below:

* UPDATE: The original video has now been privatized, and a new video uploaded in it’s place. You can find more information about that here, and the new video below:

You can find the full rundown (via an emailed press release) below:

Features new to the series!

• Life on the Island: Nook Inc. confidently recommends a trip to a remote deserted island. And that’s not just because it’s the only company that offers this type of package! On the island, life is as peaceful and relaxing as it gets. Since the island is deserted, you can create your new life from the very beginning – just like a pioneer! Time flows as naturally as in the real world, including seasons and day and night cycles that mirror real time.
• DIY: By collecting specific materials around the island, you can craft a wide variety of things, including tools and furniture. DIY workshops teach you how to enrich your life by crafting DIY recipes. As you become more familiar with DIY, you can even learn special skills like changing the color of your DIY furniture or decorating them with custom designs.
• NookPhone: Nook Inc. will provide some basic necessities and services, including your very own NookPhone. It has standard apps, like a camera and map, but over time, new applications will be added to support your island needs. The camera can be used to take in-game photos all over the island – you can even add fancy filters like all the cool kids are doing!
• Nook Miles: For players looking for more concrete goals, and to help offer guidance and inspiration on the island, you can take advantage of the Nook Mileage program. As you fulfill certain challenges and experiences, you will earn miles to pay off the cost of the getaway package or, eventually, to exchange for in-game rewards. Rewards range from in-game Nook Inc. merchandise and helpful items that can enrich your time on the island, to tickets that you can use to visit distant islands.
• Island Tours: These “mystery island tours” are at the whim of the pilot, so you never know where you will end up! Once on these smaller islands, feel free to gather as many items as you want – like DIY materials and creatures – and take them back with you to your island.
• Party Play: With the Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway package, up to eight people can live on one island.* In Party Play, you can call up to three other players to explore the island at the same time. Whoever calls the others will be the Leader, making the others the Followers. It’s easy to change out the Leader, letting others quickly take charge. Any creatures or items found by Followers will be stored in a recycle box at the Resident Services building!
• Land Development: While you can cross rivers on your island by pole-vaulting and climb elevated land using ladders, you can also change the landscape by adding bridges and slopes. Once your island is fully decked out, you’ll receive a permit to freely pave your own paths, as well as perform major construction like changing the paths of rivers or building and demolishing cliffs. With your own maintenance and construction permits, you can flex your creative muscles on the land itself, not just the stuff on it.
• NookLink: Yes, Tom Nook likes to put his name on everything. But when it’s a Nook product or service, you know you are getting something that’s high quality. With NookLink, which is part of the Nintendo Switch Online app, you can scan a Custom Design QR Code pattern from previous games Animal Crossing: New Leaf or Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer with your real-life smartphone and then download them to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. When connected online, you can talk with friends who also have the Animal Crossing: New Horizons game with the Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app using your smartphone as a keyboard or for voice chat. NookLink will launch in March, soon after the selected departure included in your Deserted Island Getaway Package.

A detailed breakdown of the Getaway Package experience!

• Choose Your Island: Before boarding your flight to the island, you will choose the island from a range of options. Choosing to live in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, for example, will affect the timing of the seasons, so select the location that suits you best. When the seasons change on the island, so do the activities. For Northern Hemisphere residents, spring will just be starting when the game launches on March 20, so expect blooming cherry blossoms to show up soon!
• Orientation: After landing on the island, you will receive a helpful orientation session from the Nook Inc. staff. At this time, you’ll be provided with the tent that’s included with your getaway package. You can chat with other island residents about where you want to set up your new home, and help them choose their home locations as well.
• Resident Services: The Resident Services facility is available to support your daily needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They provide you with services such as the sale of everyday goods, the purchase of unwanted items and helpful advice.
• Become a Home Owner: The tent provided to you by Nook Inc. is great, but have you considered a house? Home loans have no deadlines, interest or assessment, and you can pay your loan back at your own pace. A house offers much more space than a tent and also includes storage space for any extra furniture and baggage. Once you own a home, you can channel your inner interior designer, setting up the walls, flooring and furniture however you like. You can also use extension and remodeling services to expand and customize your home even more.
• Customization Deluxe: Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers more customization options than ever before, from personalizing the look of your character all the way down to skin tone, hairstyle and clothing, to placing buildings and items wherever you want on the island. You can even decorate the inside and outside of your home! Turn that island into a MY land!
• Airport: This is the first place you will land on the island. (It is an airport, after all.) It’s also available to use 24 hours a day, beginning on the day after your arrival. At the airport, you can invite residents of other islands to your own island via the internet or local wireless. You can also travel and visit other islands yourself! Up to eight people can play on a given island at one time**, so feel free to get a good group together and make some fantastic memories.
• Island-wide Broadcasts: At the start of each day, Mr. Nook, CEO of Nook Inc., will make a broadcast to all residents, updating them with the latest on important island events and advice about how to best enjoy island living.

Features and updates to further your island enjoyment!

• New Residents: When you first land on the island you will only have a few animal residents living there with you. But as you develop your island from the ground up, more neighbors will visit and choose to move in. You can even invite some of the new residents to live there yourself! There’s nothing better than a welcoming neighbor.
• Free Updates: Free updates will be added after the game launches, with seasonal events continually added throughout the year. The first free update will be on launch day, March 20. By installing this update, you can celebrate Bunny Day with a special event in April. If you own both Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for mobile devices and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you’ll receive special items in each game. Details will be announced at a later date on the official Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Twitter account.
• Additional Facilities: As you grow your island, more facilities will be built. This includes a museum showcasing the rich ecosystem of the island, a shop full of ready-made furniture and goods you can’t craft yourself, a tailor offering clothing and fashion items, and a campsite where you can invite guests for recreational purposes.
• Tourists & Events: Your island will not only be home to new residents, but also tourists as well! These temporary visitors are always welcome and can offer up items that cannot be crafted on the island. Visitors can also participate in fun events like Fishing Tourneys and Bug-Offs, which will pop up throughout the year. Through free updates to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, new special events and seasonal guests will be introduced.
• amiibo Support: Animal Crossing: New Horizons supports amiibo figures and amiibo cards from the Animal Crossing series. You can also invite these familiar faces to Photopia, an island that exists in the game, where you can place models in creative photo shoots.
• Twitter Takeover: Keep an eye out for social media savvy Tom Nook, who is rumored to take over the @AnimalCrossing Twitter account right after today’s video presentation.

*Up to eight Nintendo Account holders can live on the same island within each game. With one Nintendo Switch system and one game, up to four of those Nintendo Account holders can play on the same island at the same time (additional accessories required). With additional systems and games, up to eight players can play on the same island at the same time via local wireless or online play. Nintendo Switch Online membership and Nintendo Account required for online features. Not available in all countries. Internet access required for online features. Terms apply. nintendo.com/switch-online. Games, systems, additional accessories and Nintendo Switch Online membership sold separately.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is launching for Nintendo Switch on March 20th, 2020.