Animal Crossing: New Horizons will soon let you transfer your island to another Switch

Animal Crossing: New Horizons players will soon get the option to transfer their game’s save data to another Nintendo Switch — and that includes both transferring an entire island and the ability to move a single resident to a new Switch.

Save data transfers for Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be added to the game on Nov. 18, according to Nintendo’s support website. The upcoming option is good news for players who would like to transition to a different model of Switch, and for players who are looking to move a secondary player (i.e. the person who is not the island resident representative) to their own island.

Here’s how Nintendo describes Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ new save data transfer options:

Entire Island Transfer

Use this feature if you wish to transfer the entire island and all residents to a new Nintendo Switch system. The island, all progress and customizations, your animal neighbors, the island resident representative, and any other residents that have been created on the island will be transferred.

This feature is helpful if you are replacing your Nintendo Switch system with a new one and all players who have played Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be using the new Nintendo Switch system. It is also the only way to transfer your island resident representative when you have not backed up your island.

You must have access to both the original system and the new system to use this feature.

Resident Move (Single Player Transfer)

Use this feature if you wish to transfer just one resident to a new Nintendo Switch system. The resident, the resident’s home, and most items held by the resident and kept in storage will be transferred to an island on the new Nintendo Switch system. The island resident representative cannot be transferred.

This feature is helpful when just one player wants to continue playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons on a new Nintendo Switch or when multiple residents other than the island resident representative will be using the new Nintendo Switch. The transferred player(s) will move to a new island if there is no existing save data on the new system. If there is already an island populated on the new system, the resident(s) will move to that island. All island progress and animal neighbors will remain on the original Nintendo Switch system.

You must have access to both the original system and the new system to use this feature.

The option to transfer Animal Crossing save data to a new Switch will be a huge boon for players who are looking to upgrade their console, and for players who have been forced to live on another player’s island, but without the freedom of being that island’s resident representative.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ next update will also introduce new winter-themed events, including Turkey Day and Toy Day. Read more about the Switch game’s new winter update here.