The change of seasons is getting closer for Animal Crossing: New Horizons players. New Horizons offers four distinct seasons to spice up gameplay in island towns. Fans can enjoy hot summers on the beach, brightly colored autumn leaves, piles of Winter snow, and budding Spring trees depending on the hemisphere and time of year a player's Nintendo Switch is set to. With these seasonal changes, Animal Crossing players can also start looking forward to new seasonal events, which could be exciting for those who have found the recent events lacking in content.
Right now, players in the Northern Hemisphere who are set to the current date are nearing the end of Summer, while players in the Southern Hemisphere are just finishing Winter. While Animal Crossing: New Horizons players can time travel to a desired season at any time by changing the date of their Nintendo Switch, this doesn't mean they will have access to all the content available at that time of year. Nintendo releases most season-specific content and events in special updates shortly before the event is meant to occur. This means players can enjoy the seasonal weather early, but getting a sneak peek at most of Animal Crossing's upcoming 2021 events isn't possible.
The shift in seasons, as well as months, also changes what forageable items, bugs, and fish are available for players to collect. While time travel can speed up this process, Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay was designed to require a full year of collecting to successfully obtain one of every item available. There are also special weeks in certain seasons that produce rare DIY recipes and forageable items like the week of Cherry Blossom Season in the Spring and Maple Leaf Season in the Fall. Because of this, playing in every season can be important for those trying to complete collections both for Nook Miles and for their island museums.
What Day Each Animal Crossing Season Ends
Below is a breakdown of the dates for season changes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons according to Game8. While 12:00 AM is technically the time the date rolls over in New Horizons, the season change takes effect at 05:00 AM when the new day officially begins on the player's island.
- Northern Hemisphere Spring - Begins on February 25 and ends on May 31.
- Northern Hemisphere Summer - Begins on June 1 and ends on August 31.
- Northern Hemisphere Fall - Begins on September 1 and ends on November 25.
- Northern Hemisphere Winter - Begins on November 26 and ends on February 24.
- Southern Hemisphere Spring - Beings on August 25 and ends on November 30.
- Southern Hemisphere Summer - Begins on December 1 and ends on February 28.
- Southern Hemisphere Fall - Begins on March 1 and ends on May 25.
- Southern Hemisphere Winter - Begins on May 26 and ends on August 24.
While New Horizons' Summer events have been lacking for 2021, the upcoming Fall updates could potentially add gameplay in a more fulfilling way. This would help encourage fans to keep signing on, as well as freshen up the current options that may have become boring or repetitive for regular players. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has done a good job making each season unique, and hopefully this will continue to be the case with future updates to content.
Source: Game8