All 333 villagers from the base version of Nintendo 3DS game Animal Crossing: New Leaf plus 50 more added through a free update will be making their returns in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The information was shared via the official Animal Crossing Twitter account, which tweeted the following:
Thank goodness it's Friday, as they say! Yes, yes! I hope everyone has a fun weekend! We're busy sending information about the Deserted Island Getaway Package to our Nook's Homes customers. That's a whopping 383 letters… and we're pouring our heart & soul into each & every one! pic.twitter.com/eijTcPg21c
— Tom Nook (@animalcrossing) February 21, 2020
The number 383 is the exact number of villagers in New Leaf – Welcome amiibo when excluding characters obtainable through Sanrio crossover amiibo cards and amiibo figure series like Splatoon, The Legend of Zelda, and more.
Yesterday, it was confirmed all Animal Crossing amiibo card series apart from Sanrio Collaboration ones would be compatible with New Horizons, which lines up with the 383 number.
Additionally, “Nook’s Homes” is referred to in the tweet, which is the name of Tom Nook’s real estate business in Animal Crossing: New Leaf; this suggests Tom Nook is reaching out to villagers that purchased a home from him in New Leaf.
This does not confirm the overall total of villagers in New Horizons, however, since at least eight never-before-seen villagers have already been seen in-game; this means the total number of villagers in New Horizons is at least 391.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf originally launched with 333 villagers when it released in 2013; a 2016 free update added amiibo functionality to the game, which allowed players to scan amiibo cards and figures to invite characters to their towns and/or ask them to move in.
Following the “Welcome amiibo” update in 2016, Nintendo released two new series of Animal Crossing amiibo cards: the “Welcome amiibo” series, which allowed players to scan in 50 villagers from past games that hadn’t returned in New Leaf, and the Sanrio Collaboration series, which allowed players to scan in 6 brand-new villagers based on Sanrio brand characters.
The “Welcome amiibo” update also added brand-new villagers based on popular Nintendo characters, like Ganon, Wolf Link, Callie, Marie, and more.
Those who want to see a complete list of all the returning villagers that will appear in Animal Crossing: New Horizons can check out our guide.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons launches worldwide on March 20th, 2020.
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Written by Daniel Dell-Cornejo
Daniel is an editor at Nintendo Wire. Always with his head in the clouds, he is never apart from his creative thoughts – a blessing for an aspiring fiction writer. As a journalist and lifelong gamer, he aims to provide readers with the very best in Nintendo coverage.
