It was recently discovered that Animal Crossing: New Horizons only works up to a certain real-world date. As discovered by Reddit user AdTrue4863, Animal Crossing: New Horizons doesn’t work if the Nintendo Switch’s internal clock is set to 2061. This effectively means Animal Crossing: New Horizons will stop working in 39 years, but luckily for those in the future, there’s a way to fix the problem.

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If Animal Crossing: New Horizons players boot up the game with their clock set to any date in 2061 or beyond, they are met with a message asking them to close it and set a new date. The options players are given are any time between the years 2000 and 2060, so that’s quite the range to choose from. What’s interesting about this fix is that it seemingly shows Nintendo endorsing Animal Crossing time travel, which is a touchy subject in the game’s community.

For those who may not be aware how Animal Crossing works, the games run on real time, based on the internal clock of whatever console they’re running on. When it’s nighttime in real life, it’s also nighttime in Animal Crossing. And when the seasons change in real life, so do the seasons change in Animal Crossing. Certain dates in Animal Crossing also have special significance, with players able to celebrate holidays through in-game events.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons NPCs adhere to the clock as well, meaning players are sometimes locked out of certain areas or interactions depending on what time of day they’re playing. There are things in the game that require players to wait a certain amount of real-world time as well, and so some players have taken to “time traveling” by changing their system’s clock. Some Animal Crossing fans consider this as a form of cheating, whereas others argue it allows them to enjoy the game better and on their own terms. Regardless of where one falls in the Animal Crossing time travel debate, though, it seems that Nintendo is OK with it once it’s literally required to keep playing the game in 2061 and beyond.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

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