Nintendo Switch gamers surprised with free Animal Crossing download

The Animal Crossing franchise was a big part of many of our childhoods and even had a resurgence during the Pandemic with the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

However, with Nintendo seemingly not focusing on Animal Crossing in more recent years, it is up to us to play some of the originals and bask in the warmth of nostalgia.

Check out the trailer for Animal Crossing: New Horizons below!

That being said, the studio has made it at least slightly possible to celebrate the franchise by adding some free downloads for Nintendo Switch users.

Spotted by NSO Icon Alerts on Twitter, Nintendo is offering Switch users the chance to grab 41 icons and 10 backgrounds/profile borders for absolutely free.

Better yet, they are all dedicated to our favourite Animal Crossing characters.

The batch includes icons for characters such as Goldie, Marcel, Weber, Ellie, Skye, Moe, Rudy and more, so you are more than likely to find your favourite and deck out your Switch profile to show them off.

Each character icon costs 10 Platinum coins which is one of two Nintendo currencies.

You may think that they are not free if this is the case, however, Platinum is easily earned through playing and buying games on the Nintendo Switch so it is pretty likely that you have accumulated some over the years.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was first released back in 2020 and received critical acclaim from critics and player base alike.

However, despite Nintendo releasing its Happy Home Paradise DLC in November 2021, it announced that no further updates would be coming.

Although sad news for fans, they are grateful that such a game existed during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

So if you want to express your gratitude, you can do so by grabbing one of these free icons before the batch is cycled out to make way for a brand-new franchise.