Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Pokemon Winds and Waves
  • New Games for 2026
  • GamesRadar+ Replay
  • Mario Day deals
Don't miss these
The Sims 4 burglar
The Sims The Sims 4 Marketplace is coming with paid mods – because that's definitely what fans of EA's life sim want
Pokemon Pokopia screenshot showing Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle all gathered around a Ditto in human form between two green trees
Pokemon The ultimate Pokemon Pokopia guide for restoring the world around you
A parade rolls down the street in the Race Day DLC for Cities: Skylines
City Builder Games Cities: Skylines gets its first proper expansion in 3 years as its disastrous sequel again settles for smaller DLC packs
A ditto takes a selfie when visiting the Pokopia developer island
Pokemon How to visit the Pokopia developer island
The Sims 4 screenshot of the Enchanted by Nature expansion pack which shows a fairy in a yellow outfit and other mythical creatures standing underneath trees
The Sims The best Sims 4 expansion packs to buy right now in 2026
Best games like Animal Crossing: A group of villagers on a stone bridge during New Horizons.
Animal Crossing 15 Best games like Animal Crossing that are so wholesome it hurts
a ditto human sitting on some logs with pikachu and pichu
Pokemon Pokopia's unhinged dialogue is tempting me away from Animal Crossing: "It's a pretty nice butt, don't you think?"
Cheap Nintendo Switch game sales - get great deals this Black Friday
Nintendo Switch Cheap Nintendo Switch game sales - all the latest deals in 2026
A path design in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing Best Animal Crossing: New Horizons island ideas
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
Simulation Games Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream won't allow Mii and item sharing or any real online functionality at all
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Isabelle
Animal Crossing How to find Isabelle in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Screenshot from Pokopia. A ditto is in the centre of the frame sat in a cave
Pokemon Pokopia "doesn't force you to wait" like Animal Crossing – the Pokemon life sim lets you knock stuff out as you wish
Animal Crossing New Horizons guide
Animal Crossing Full Animal Crossing: New Horizons guide for island life
Animal Crossing: New Horizons tips
Animal Crossing 30 Animal Crossing: New Horizons tips to know before you start
Animal Crossing New Horizons villager wearing majora's mask from Zelda and standing in front of the master sword
Animal Crossing Full Animal Crossing New Horizons Zelda item list and how to unlock them
  1. Games
  2. Simulation
  3. Animal Crossing
  4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Here's what happens to your Animal Crossing: New Horizons DLC if you stop paying for Nintendo Switch Online

News
By Sam Loveridge published 15 October 2021

Stop subscribing and you won't risk all your acquired skills

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise DLC, the first paid DLC drop for the game
(Image credit: Nintendo)
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Players will only be able to access some of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise DLC if they stop paying for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack

The first paid-for DLC was announced as part of today's Nintendo Direct, and can be purchased independently or be obtained as part of the new Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership tier. 

But, this has raised questions about what would happen to your DLC access if you were to stop subscribing to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. 

You may like
  • Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise How to access Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons Animal Crossing: New Horizons' pitiful selection of retro games can only be accessed with a Switch Online subscription
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans are a little disappointed about Slumber Islands' building limitations

Happy Home Paradise will see players traveling to a new archipelago to become a Paradise Planner, creating vacation homes for various characters by picking a plot of land and then designing the interior and exterior to their specific tastes. 

But, there are a lot of skills and features you can obtain by playing the DLC that you can then utilize on your home Animal Crossing: New Horizons island, which has raised concerns if a player were to lose access to the DLC obtained through Nintendo Switch Online.

However, Nintendo has clarified what will happens to your access to those features of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise DLC if you stop paying for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack:

"Players can still continue to access certain things they have unlocked in Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise on their main island, including adding counters, partition walls, as well as adding ambient lighting and soundscapes, even if their access to Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise is suspended."

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

"However, it will not be possible to visit the archipelago if players lose access to the DLC. To be able to visit the archipelago and take on requests of designing vacation homes again, you will need to purchase the DLC separately or renew the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership."

Happy Home Paradise, along with the major free Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 2.0, will drop on November 5. 

For now, here are our top Animal Crossing: New Horizons tips. 

CATEGORIES
Nintendo Switch Platforms Nintendo
Sam Loveridge
Sam Loveridge
Social Links Navigation
Brand Director, GamesRadar+

Sam Loveridge is the Brand Director and former Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar. She joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.

Read more
Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise
How to access Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC
 
 
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons' pitiful selection of retro games can only be accessed with a Switch Online subscription
 
 
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans are a little disappointed about Slumber Islands' building limitations
 
 
Some of the village gathers around with Tom Nook and Kapp'n's family in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Nintendo Switch 2 celebrate the Resort Hotel opening
Here's everything new in the Animal Crossing New Horizons 3.0 update, including the Hotel and Zelda stuff
 
 
Animal Crossing New Horizons slumber island item collection and villagers walking around
How to unlock Animal Crossing Slumber Islands and how they work
 
 
An Animal Crossing: New Horizons player standing on the pier in front of a hotel
I haven't played Animal Crossing: New Horizons since 2020 - here's why the 3.0 update has lured me back in
 
 
Latest in Animal Crossing
A player character sat surrounded by books in a cozy room in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons update ensures Timmy and Tommy never let you out of their sight again, stops fence cloning
 
 
Celebrating the opening of the resort hotel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Nintendo says those Animal Crossing and Splatoon updates are there so players can migrate to Switch 2 at their own pace
 
 
Photo of a pile of official Animal Crossing amiibo cards, with an Isabelle card in the middle.
UK Nintendo fans this is not a drill, Animal Crossing amiibo cards are back
 
 
Photo of an official Animal Crossing Brewster cup and rubber keychain sitting on a white surface.
The new Animal Crossing New Horizons merch at Nintendo is too cute to handle, but it's UK only for now
 
 
Animal Crossing: New Horizon On the Radar special
I love Animal Crossing: New Horizons Slumber Islands, but it could’ve been so much better if they added these features
 
 
Tom Nook from Animal Crossing New Horizons on the GamesRadar+ On the Radar hub branding
On the Radar with Animal Crossing: New Horizons
 
 
Latest in News
Elsa Bloodshot in Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals devs felt "panic" at the thought of going into the live-service graveyard that just claimed Highguard
 
 
Palworld Pal with shocked expression
"I wouldn't rule out a Palworld 2.0," says Pocketpair publishing head, but don't expect a "No Man's Sky situation"
 
 
Dafne Keen brandishing her claws as Laura/X-23 in Deadpool and Wolverine
Marvel fans are debating whether Dafne Keen should become Wolverine or stay as X-23, and I've already chosen a side
 
 
Peak mesa biome
Peak came about after a bet between Content Warning and Another Crab's Treasure leads to see whose game would sell more
 
 
Key art for Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred showing Mephisto, a spiky and angular demon, against a red, lightning backdrop, arm and claw raised menancingly, cropped to show more of him
Diablo 4's Lord of Hatred expansion will be "really f*cking hard" at its highest difficulty, dev threatens
 
 
Jin, Mugen, and Fuu standing in a row
Samurai Champloo is getting a live-action Netflix series from One Piece studio, and the original creator is on board
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Elsa Bloodshot in Marvel Rivals
    1
    Marvel Rivals devs felt "panic" at the thought of going into the live-service graveyard that just claimed Highguard
  2. 2
    Diablo 4's Lord of Hatred expansion will be "really f*cking hard" at its highest difficulty, dev threatens
  3. 3
    Marvel fans are debating whether Dafne Keen should become Wolverine or stay as X-23, and I've already chosen a side
  4. 4
    "I wouldn't rule out a Palworld 2.0," says Pocketpair publishing head, but don't expect a "No Man's Sky situation"
  5. 5
    Peak came about after a bet between Content Warning and Another Crab's Treasure leads to see whose game would sell more

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...