Animal Crossing: New Horizons arrives on Nintendo Switch in a little over a month, and new details about the game continue to trickle out in the lead up to its launch. We recently learned New Horizons may receive some kind of paid add-on content, and now another feature has been confirmed by Nintendo's website.
According to Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons page, the game supports the seldom-used Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app. This app allows Nintendo Switch Online subscribers to voice chat while playing compatible games and offers additional functionality for certain titles, namely Splatoon 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
For Splatoon 2, the NSO app lets users access SplatNet, which displays detailed stats, the map rotation schedule, a gear shop, and other useful information. Smash Bros. Ultimate, meanwhile, has an ancillary service called Smash World, which lets NSO members view screenshots, video clips, custom stages, and other content shared by other players.
Nintendo hasn't shared any further details about New Horizons' NSO app support, so it's unclear whether the game will use the app strictly for voice chat or offer a more detailed service like Splatoon 2 and Smash Bros. Ultimate, but you'll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in order to use the app and play New Horizons online with others.
In other news, Nintendo recently confirmed that New Horizons only lets you have one island per Switch console. The game also does not support Nintendo Switch Online's cloud save backup feature, but Nintendo will give NSO subscribers some way to recover their save data should something happen to their Switch. You can read more about the game in our roundup of everything we know about New Horizons.
New Horizons launches on Switch on March 20. The game is now available for pre-order on the Switch Eshop and other retailers. Be sure to check out our Animal Crossing: New Horizons pre-order guide for more details on where you can reserve the title and what pre-order bonuses are available.