Animal Crossing: New Horizons Won't Include Support For Cloud Saves

As we saw at Nintendo Direct E3 2019, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been delayed until March of 2020. Fans were still glad to see a new trailer for the game, which looks as cute as ever, taking place on a deserted island. According to a report from NintendoLife, however, fans should also be aware of another bit of bad news. French outlet Gamekult published a preview article which also includes some questions to the game's director, Aya Kyogoku, and its producer, Higashi Nogami. As they talked about the new game and about what players can expect, the topic of cloud saves and amiibo support came up. And when asked specifically about the cloud save functionality on the Nintendo Switch, Higashi Nogami did state the following, as translated by Miketendo64.

New Horizons will not be compatible with cloud backups to avoid manipulating time, which remains one of the founding concepts of the series.

So if anything happens to your Nintendo Switch console (if you happen to lose it or break it) say goodbye to all the hours you'll have spent on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as you won't be able to keep the content on the cloud. Nogami's reasoning does make sense, but it remains to be seen what the player experience will be like without cloud saving functionality. However, on the bright side, the interview also suggested that players can expect some amiibo functionality in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so if you have a full set of amiibo figurines and/or cards around, that will be good news to you.

Can you confirm that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be compatible with the amiibo range?

Kyogoku: Given the number of cards and figures available, we obviously think New Horizons will be compatible with amiibo, but I can not tell you more about this compatibility at this stage of development.

So while autosaving may be in for the series for the first time, putting Mr. Resetti out of a job, it appears that more advanced forms of saving are still beyond the series.

What do you think of the lack of cloud save functionality for Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Will it make you extra careful with your Nintendo Switch? Let us know in the comments below!