Can I move from the cartridge version to the digital version and still keep my island?

[JohnJSal]

Hi all! I've been playing New Horizons since this summer with the cartridge, but now I'm thinking it might be better to switch to the digital version so I can easily check in with the game while playing other games at the same time.

However, I'm not sure how this works and I dread losing my island or any save data. I've noticed that Animal Crossing has about 6 GB of data on my SD card, which I assume is all of the update data since I started the game. Can I safely delete all of this data before downloading the digital version, or will this affect my island?

I've heard that downloading the digital version will download the latest, fully-updated version of the game, so I'm thinking that the digital download will not use this extra data on my SD card anyway, and I'd rather not leave it there taking up space.

Anyway, I'm just wondering about the process for moving from cartridge to digital without affecting or losing my current island. Any advice on this situation would be very appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[DragonAceSg7]

I'm actually very curious about this too. I do know there is a free 'moving' app on the Switch, for moving between physical Switches but maybe you could use that?

 

[JohnJSal]

I'm actually very curious about this too. I do know there is a free 'moving' app on the Switch, for moving between physical Switches but maybe you could use that?

I'm not sure that's relevant for my situation. I only have one Switch. There's no real "moving" happening between systems. It's just simply switching from the cartridge version to the digital version.

My guess would be that you can remove the cartridge, delete all the data (except save data, which I believe is a separate option anyway), and then download the digital version and immediately start playing with your existing island.

But I just don't know for sure, and no one has been able to confirm it for me. So I'm worried about making the transition.

 

[DragonAceSg7]

right right, I guess part of me was curious if the moving thing would 'hold' your island

 

[mirukushake]

You can delete and download game data and it won't affect the save file. I was playing the digital version on one of my Switches, decided to change to the cartridge version, deleted both game and DLC data and was able to play the same island seamlessly. I highly doubt it wouldn't work the other way around.

 

[Bui]

Yes, you can. I started a second island on my secondary Switch using a cartridge, then ended up buying the digital version on that system so I could play both at once to move items between the two islands. I was able to access my save file using the digital version of the game without issue. Highlighting the game on the home menu and pressing + to bring up the game options should allow you to delete the extra data for the game while preserving the save file by scrolling to "Manage Software" and choosing "Delete Software" (it clearly states that save data won't be deleted this way). Then, once you've installed the digital version and start the game up again it will load up your current save.