The new Animal Crossing Birthday Calendar on My Nintendo reveals no new characters, but don’t fret just yet

A new reward has appeared on My Nintendo: the Printable Animal Crossing 2020 Birthday Calendar, which is available for 80 platinum points. Some fans have been expressing dismay, as the calendar seems to hint that there will not be any new villagers (islanders?) in New Horizons, but there may not be a reason to fret just yet.

It’s not like the Animal Crossing franchise really needs new villagers; it boasts a roster of more than 470 villagers across 35 different species. Even so, fans have been hoping for an even bigger roster, with bats, snakes, llamas, and even aliens topping the fandoms most-wanted list, as well as new personalities for villagers–and the ever-popular desire for grumpy villagers to be mean again. The last major title, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, introduced 100 new villagers, and featured a grand total of 333 potential neighbors, including characters who were missing from previous games. The notable exception to Animal Crossing: New Leaf’s complete roster was Champ, a jock monkey featured in the Doubutsu no Mori film.

The 2020 Animal Crossing Birthday Calendar denotes March 20th as the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and features the birthdays of the complete current cast of villagers and NPCs, including recent NPCs such as Harvey, who was added to New Leaf in the Welcome Amiibo update. That said, it is missing Champ, as well as new NPCs which have been teased in New Horizons, such as the Dodo running Dodo airlines, and the new beaver character teased on the cover.

It looks like the calendar is intended as a resource for New Leaf, and it is unclear if My Nintendo will be releasing a companion calendar featuring the Animal Crossing: New Horizons once we learn more about the new villagers and NPCs to be found on the deserted island. Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2020.