Animal Crossing: New Horizons ‘item clone’ exploit removed

The party’s over, punk

Nintendo has applied a new patch to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The update, which is live in-game right now, appears to have only one function: the removal of the “item cloning” glitch that has been exploited by BAD villagers since launch.

The exploit involved one player setting an item on a raised surface before circling it at speed. If a second player then tried to grab said item, it would sometimes result in the item appearing in the latter’s inventory, while the original remained in place in the game world. Canny villagers could then sell these to unsuspecting traders and ring in the Big Bells.

The new update – applied when you next venture online – will remove this glitch entirely, requiring players to return to good, old-fashioned hard work to fill out the Bellometer. Of course, I’m just informing you all of this fix purely out of interest, because nobody here in our beloved community would cheat the game. Cheating makes Isabelle cry.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.

Animal Crossing New Horizons item cloning exploit [Eurogamer]