It seems that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will have DLC, as its ESRB rating has revealed that it will have in-game purchases. Nintendo has embraced DLC during the Switch generation, with games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate having a lot of paid content.
The console & handheld Animal Crossing games have managed to avoid paid DLC, with Animal Crossing: New Leaf actually giving away a significant amiibo update for free. Everything changed when Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was released for mobile phones, as the game was filled with in-app purchases and a number of sleazy sales tactics that come straight from the gacha playbook. Fans have been worried that Animal Crossing: New Horizons would be influenced by Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, even though it hasn't made as much money for Nintendo as Fire Emblem Heroes.
It has now been confirmed that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will have in-game purchases. The official page for the game on the Nintendo website now has an ESRB rating. The game has been rated E for everyone, with the only content notes referring to comic mischief and in-game purchases. The exact nature of these in-game purchases have yet to be revealed, but there will likely be an expansion pass alongside free updates, going on the recent examples of Nintendo's biggest games on the Switch.
It's unlikely that Nintendo is going to include loot boxes or similar random elements in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Nintendo's partnership with DeNA is in jeopardy, as the Nintendo mobile games have underperformed in terms of profits. Nintendo has never fully embraced the sleazy aspects of the mobile market and it has always treated the phone games as a way of promoting its console titles. The paid subscription for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is the kind of thing that's likely to alienate long time fans of the series rather than bring more players to the game, so Nintendo might start to distance itself from these tactics with its precious first-party franchises in the future.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a strong chance of being the best-selling Nintendo Switch game of the year, so it would make sense for Nintendo to want to release DLC to a large and dedicated fanbase that would pay real money for more clothes, items, and even villagers. Players can only hope that the in-game purchases in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are tastefully done and include worthwhile content, instead of Tom Nook shilling loot boxes for a random chance of acquiring a new item.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be released for Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2020.
Source: Nintendo