Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0's new Slumber Island feature has bad news for anyone who became mortal enemies with their "ugly" villagers: "Chops coming back from the dead to get revenge on me"

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons' major new 3.0 update is here – alongside the paid Switch 2 Edition – and players have been running into some unexpected, familiar faces in one of its free content additions.

Update 3.0 adds the Slumber Island feature, allowing folks to create an additional three Dream islands completely separate from their main island – you can choose a layout, size, and decorate it however you please. It's a pretty amazing new option for anyone who's been yearning to overhaul their main island and try out new ideas without erasing all their previous hard work, and you can even have your villager friends walking around in there, too.

Well, that's where things get interesting. We already knew that we'd be able to hang out with our current residents on Slumber Island, but it turns out that any villager who's previously lived on your island will be selectable, too. For some fans, this is a welcome reunion with old friends, some they've not seen since 2020. For others… not so much.

"Please no, I don't mind Jakey but I don't ever want to see Knox again in my life," another pleads.

Another sums up the situation quite nicely with a Simpsons meme, saying: "The villagers you kicked off your island for being ugly coming back on slumber island because the game save data remembers them but you don't."

Again, some are actually thrilled about the feature: "Oh my god i had two villagers leave recently and i was really sad about both of them this is amazing news," writes one. "I got so happy to see my former residents with my current residents," says another. I guess the reaction probably depends on how many mortal enemies you've made in your time playing one of Nintendo's sweetest, most wholesome games of all time.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update is here, and cozy game fans are going feral over one quality-of-life change: "MY POCKETS ARE FREE!!!"

Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.