The newly revealed Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise DLC is included with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack memberships, but things get a bit complicated if players who obtain the DLC this way later unsubscribe from the service. Following the October 2021 Animal Crossing Direct, Nintendo confirmed users will only partially lose access to New Horizons' DLC content if they cancel their Expansion Pack subscription without purchasing Happy Home Paradise separately.
The Direct included a slew of details about brand-new Animal Crossing: New Horizons content, far beyond the anticipated opening Brewster's The Roost coffee shop. Returning NPC Kapp'n will take players on boat tours to mysterious new islands, singing sea shanties along the way, and updates to Harv's Island will see the introduction of permanent shops for wandering vendors. Other new features include a farming and cooking system, increases to home storage space, and more, presenting a ton of new ways to tailor island life to player preferences.
Along with the free 2.0 update, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is set to receive the paid Happy Home Paradise expansion on the same day. The DLC takes players to work with Lottie in a new resort area as a member of the Paradise Planning Team, helping clients design their dream vacation homes. Players will be able to acquire more design techniques as they gain work experience there, and they can then take these new techniques back to their home islands.
How Unsubscribing From NSO + Expansion Pack Affects ACNH's DLC
The Animal Crossing - Happy Home Paradise DLC will be available on the Nintendo eShop for $24.99 USD, but users can also access it with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. In a statement to Eurogamer, Nintendo said players who unsubscribe from the Expansion Pack and haven't purchased Happy Home Paradise individually will still be able to use some of the DLC's new techniques on their main island, "including adding counters, partition walls, as well as adding ambient lighting and soundscapes." However, these players will not be able to visit the archipelago that's home to the Paradise Planning Team and its activities, including designing vacation houses and the DLC's new, non-house buildings.
It makes sense to only give limited access to content from Happy Home Paradise after canceling a subscription, but the fact that players are able to keep some of it at no additional cost is odd, albeit welcome. If Nintendo adds more DLC from ACNH or other games to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, the company will likely have to navigate more situations like this, either ensuring that DLC content is entirely separate from the base game or letting players keep access to some of it, regardless of subscription status.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise will be released for Nintendo Switch on November 5, 2021.
Source: Eurogamer