Nintendo has confirmed Animal Crossing: New Horizon players will be able to transfer their island save data from the original Switch to the all-new Switch 2, without having to download an additional app or use a cloud save.
This handy little nugget comes from Nintendo Switch 2 director Takuhiro Dohta.
“When you do the system transfer, everything like save data will remain on the Nintendo Switch and once it moves to the Nintendo Switch 2 as well,” Dohta told Polygon, before adding:
“But the [Animal Crossing] island will be an actual move. So it will leave Nintendo Switch and move over to Nintendo Switch 2.”
At the present time, if players want to transfer their island to a different Switch console, they have two options. The first is to download the Island Transfer Tool, which is a Nintendo Switch app which will facilitate both the transfer of full New Horizons’ save files or individual player accounts from the game.
The second way is Nintendo’s cloud saving and island recovery option, which allows players to upload their island and save data to the internet.
So, while both current Switch options are perfectly do-able, it sounds like transferring an island to Switch 2 is going to be far more straightforward.

Elsewhere in Nintendo news, earlier this week the company confirmed Switch 2 game cartridges will taste so horrible you will want to spit them back out and that eShop music won’t be returning for the upcoming console.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is launching Thursday 5th June, with a retail price of £395.99 for the console, or £429.99 should you opt for the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World bundle.
For more, our Tom has already been hands-on with Nintendo’s upcoming console. You can read his Switch 2 impressions here.