Nintendo has begun deletingAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsDream Islands for some users who have chosen to use popular hacks within the game.
In the more recent months sinceAnimal Crossing: New Horizons’s release, some players have been utilizing tactics unintended by Nintendo to enhance their islands beyond what the game was made to do. Dressing and terraforming islands are the main aspects ofNew Horizons,and paired with online capabilities of the current-gen console, it’s led some fans to become extremely creative, innovating new ways to get their islands up to five stars. But not all of these tactics are acceptable, according to Nintendo, which has begun taking action towards these islands following the newestWave 2 Summer Update.
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One of these hacks includes the widely popular tree hack, which allows trees to sprout with items other than fruit or bell bags. The most popular item of choice is an array of star fragments, andAnimal Crossingplayers have been paying hundreds of dollars—real money, not in-game bells—to get their hands on the hack just to decorate their islands. Nintendo has been aware of all of this, and seemingly started taking action against it by deletingDream Addresses and Dream Islandsthat utilize these hacks.
While going on theDream Island Tours adventure hosted by Luna, players can report islands that violate Nintendos' Code of Conduct by pressing the ‘-’ button and marking it under ‘Cheating,’ which then may result in the island getting removed from the dream library. Prior to the Ver. 1.4.0 update released a couple of days ago, players that chose to use cheats and hacks were seemingly met with no consequences for manipulating the game’s parameters.
Players are responding very divisively to getting kicked. Some are remarkably upset and believe the tree hack not to be considered cheating and “perfectly allowed” by Nintendo, accusing reporters of “witch-hunting,” while others are saying nobody has the right to be upset for knowingly employing cheats, then getting a slap on the wrist because of it.
In the past, however,Nintendo has asked players to stop selling villagers for real money, as this violates its in-game policies. Not only is manipulating game code and using modified firmware against the Code of Conduct but buying and selling these hacked trees for real money is a violation as well.
Some players are arguing that kicking users' Dream Islands is actually a very light response to the hack and would rather these players be banned completely. Others are worried that Nintendo might take further, more drastic action if the hacks continue. Either way, it might be best for players who have decorated their islands with adorable star trees to avoid opening up a Dream Island to strangers for the time being if they want to avoid getting reported.
