Nintendo Switch Datamine Reveals Some Exciting Features Coming to 'Animal Crossing'

If you were starting to get a little bored tending your island on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you're going to be really excited about some changes coming to the game with the next update. A datamine leak by Nintendo Switch hacker Ninji has revealed a ton of features that will reinvigorate the game for a lot of players. So let's get into what the leak revealed and what has been confirmed so far by Nintendo.

Ninji used his source code datamining skills to look into Animal Crossing: New Horizons backend and see what features are currently being worked on behind the scenes. Several of them seem to be confirmed by a recent promo on Nintendo's official Twitter teasing some of the new content coming with its next update on April 23.

The release is coming a day later than many players expected. With early teasers suggesting we could expect an in-game Earth Day event, we figured the release would occur on or before April 22. Well, ACNH seems to be replacing Earth Day with "Nature Day," occurring a day after Earth Day. While that's a slight disappointment, these new features will be well worth the extra 24-hour wait. Let's get into it.

Looks like Leif will be introduced on Nature Day, but it won't be the last we see of the sloth with a green thumb. Leif will be another traveling merchant who makes regular visits to your island, like Kicks and Saharah. As Ninji and others have predicted, his arrival also brings flowering shrubs like azaleas and hydrangeas to the game, a feature from past AC versions that players have been longing to see return.

Nature Day might more accurately called Nature Days, because the event goes on until May 4. It will also bring limited-time Nook Miles challenges and Tom Nook apparently will be running some sort of promotion, which we expect will unveil some new ways to alter the landscape of your island with hedges.

Even more exciting than flowering shrubs is an upcoming museum expansion to bring a little culture to your island. An art wing will be added, likely making use of the stairway to nowhere behind Blathers. But you won't be digging around in the soil for priceless works of art. Instead, you'll be able to purchase art from Jolly Redd, a reinvention of another familiar character.

Longtime fans of the series may remember Crazy Redd, a shady fox who sold pricy furniture and knockoffs of artworks. Now he will operate out of a pirate ship that will dock at the little slip of currently barren beach on your island. 

Sure, you could hang all that priceless art in your home, but Blathers would probably rather you donate it to the new wing he's adding to your museum. Just the brief snapshots reveal you will be able to collect paintings and sculptures by masters like Seurat, van Gogh, Rodin, and more. 

Other upcoming content related to your island's cultural center include an International Museum Day celebration where players will collect stamps for their passports in different areas of the museum.

Not everything Ninji's spoilers indicated will necessarily be in the April 23 update. They also found some clues alluding to eventually being able to dive for fish as players could in previous generations of Animal Crossing, as well as vegetables to plant. Ninji also predicts a new section added to the Critterpedia for seafood, and two unused DIY recipe categories for clothing and cooking suggests players will eventually be able to make food and have expanded DIY fashion capabilities. There is also a possible further expansion of Nook's Cranny.

Even if those features don't come with the next update, they're something to look forward to, and based on the excitement online, surely Nintendo will give players what they want sooner or later.