![To give Switch owners a better idea of what to expect in the months ahead, we’ve compiled this list of every Nintendo game* currently in development, ordered by release date.
*There’s some wiggle room when it comes to what is and isn’t a "Nintendo game," and we’re not covering all Switch exclusives. Instead, we’ve included games that Nintendo itself considers to be Nintendo products according to their recent earnings material, covering new games Nintendo is developing, publishing, or licensing from third parties. (Technically, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is developed and published by Ubisoft, but it feels silly to leave a game with Mario in a starring role off the list. And though Triangle Strategy may come to other platforms like Octopath Traveler, for now Nintendo considers it a key property for Switch.) Anything that doesn’t quite fit those criteria (such as older games being re-released via Nintendo Switch Online) are not included.” src=”https://xlera8.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/every-nintendo-game-in-development.jpg” class=”jsx-2920405963 progressive-image image jsx-294430442 rounded expand loading”></div>
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<h2>Triangle Strategy</h2>
<p>Triangle Strategy is the next “HD-2D” tactical RPG from Nintendo and Square, following the excellent <a rel=]()
Octopath Traveler from 2018. The unique art style places pixelated character sprites in 3D environments with “modern effects.”
With over 20 playable characters, Triangle Strategy has you controlling a group of warriors through an international conflict and its aftermath. Away from the battlefield, you’ll be making narrative-affecting decisions based on utility, morality, or liberty. The culmination of your decisions “make up Serenoa’s worldview and influence who will join [your party].”
Square Enix producer Tomoya Asano, a driving force behind Octopath Traveler and more recently Bravely Default 2, is also working on Triangle Strategy.
A Triangle Strategy demo allowing you to play through Chapter 3 is now available ahead of its March 4 release. (Progress will carry over if you then purchase the full game.)
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Nintendo’s next big first-party release, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, takes everyone’s favorite pink puffball on an open-world adventure through an abandoned, overgrown city.
The Forgotten Land features the series’ signature gameplay, allowing Kirby to inhale enemies and objects to copy their abilities — though this time around, Kirby’s able to suck down entire vending machines and vehicles.
Local co-op will be available for those looking to play with a friend; Player Two will take control of Kirby’s pal Bandana Waddle Dee.
Development is being led by longtime series director Shinya Kumazaki.
Nintendo will follow Kirby with Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, a remastered collection of Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. The military-themed strategy game comes to Switch with an all-new art style and animated character portraits. It features two campaigns and a four-player Versus Mode.
Re-Boot Camp is being developed by WayForward (Shantae) under the supervision of Nintendo, which will also publish it. Nintendo originally scheduled Re-Boot Camp for December 2021 but delayed it to 2022 to give the team “a little more time for fine tuning.”
We awarded Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2 a 9.9 and 9, respectively, when they were released in the early 2000s for Game Boy Advance.
Nintendo Switch Sports
During its latest Direct, Nintendo announced Nintendo Switch Sports, a follow-up to its incredibly popular pack-in game from two console generations ago, Wii Sports.
Nintendo Switch Sports features tennis, bowling, chambara (swordplay), soccer, badminton, and volleyball. Golf will also be added as a free update later this year. The sequel comes 16 years after the original and will once again allow players to use their Mii avatars as playable characters.
It’s a bit surprising it took Nintendo so long to create this sequel, though with the Switch install base now over 100 million, perhaps there’s no better time for Nintendo to release a game with such wide-reaching potential.
Mario Strikers: Battle League
The next Mushroom Kingdom sports game is Mario Strikers: Battle League, due out on June 10.
Battle League is a 5v5 soccer-like game that largely ignores the rules of the sport: Players can throw, kick, and tackle their way to scoring goals, while also using character-specific special shots and Mario Kart-esque items like shells and bananas — all on a field enclosed by an electric fence.
Character stats and appearances can be altered by changing the four gear types: head, arms, body, and legs. Battle League supports 8-player local co-op, as well as an online Club Mode for up to 20 players.
Characters seen in the reveal trailer include Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Toad, Rosalina, and others.
The last Mario soccer game, Mario Strikers Charged, was released in 2007.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
The next Mousu/Warriors game from Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force studio is Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. In Three Hopes players will take on waves of enemies as characters from Fire Emblem: Three Houses and past games in the series, including Byleth, Marth, Chrom, Xander, and Corrin.
The first Fire Emblem Warriors was released in 2017. Nintendo most recently partnered with Koei Tecmo for a Warriors game in the Zelda universe, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Splatoon 3
Nintendo’s ink-shooter returns in Summer 2022 with Splatoon 3. Set in a desert environment called Splatlands, Splatoon 3 features both single-player and multiplayer game types, including the latest iteration of the series’ signature 4v4 Turf War mode.
The single-player campaign, Return of the Mammalians, pits Agent 3 against the evil Octarian army and focuses on the return of mammals to the world of Splatoon. The wave-based co-op mode Salmon Run will also return.
We awarded Splatoon 2 an 8.3 when it was released in 2017.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
The next installment in Nintendo’s Xenoblade Chronicles JRPG series will be released in September.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is set in an all-new world, though it will be connected to the series’ previous games. You’ll play as Noah and Mio “amid turmoil between the hostile nations of Keves and Agnus. Six characters hailing from those nations will take part in a grand tale with ‘life’ as its central theme,” reads the official description.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Images
Tetsuya Takahashi, executive director on the previous Xenoblade Chronicles games, is once again at the helm for Chronicles 3. While he’s yet to reveal much about the project, the director said fans can scour the debut trailer to find some hidden clues.
The series’ last mainline game, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, came to Switch in 2017. A remastered version of the first Xenoblade Chronicles was released more recently in 2020.
Bayonetta 3
Sega may own the Bayonetta trademark, but Nintendo is both funding and publishing Bayonetta 3, and therefore considers the game one of its own. It will be exclusive to Switch when it’s released later in 2022.
Bayonetta 3 was announced with a short teaser trailer at The Game Awards 2017. Developer PlatinumGames stayed largely quiet on the project until its proper unveiling at a Nintendo Direct last September. The trailer finally gave us our first look at Bayonetta’s new moves, mechanics, and enemies. It ended with a 2022 release window and a shot of someone who looks an awful lot like Vergil from Devil May Cry.
Our last update on the game came in early February when executive director Hideki Kamiya told IGN Bayonetta 3 will feature “new types of gameplay” and isn’t being restricted by Nintendo.
Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 were ported to Switch in early 2018, shortly after Bayonetta 3 was announced.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
One of the most anticipated games regardless of publisher is undoubtedly The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. The sequel to IGN’s Best Game of All Time was revealed at E3 2019 with a trailer that set a notably darker tone than the 2017 original.
For two years Nintendo remained quiet about Breath of the Wild 2. Then, at E3 2021, Nintendo debuted the game’s second trailer, showing Link gliding through the air and traversing Hyrule using techniques both familiar and new. At one point, Link wields a handheld flamethrower; at another, he teleports vertically through stone, hinting at the sequel’s expanded traversal mechanics. The trailer ends with an ominous shot of Hyrule Castle suspended in midair.
The sequel will, of course, be a single-player adventure, though when asked, Nintendo wouldn’t deny the possibility of co-op in Breath of the Wild 2. It’s being directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi, director of many past Zelda games including the first Breath of the Wild.
An official title has yet to be revealed. Nintendo said it’s keeping quiet about the name for good reason: “Zelda names are kind of important. Those subtitles… they start to give little bits of hints about maybe what’s going to happen.”
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Revealed at E3 2021, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is Ubisoft and Nintendo’s follow-up to 2017’s Kingdom Battle. Sparks of Hope is a single-player adventure that sends Mario and friends into space to fight against a new villain named Cursa.
While sharing a name and the foundation of strategy gameplay, Ubisoft says Sparks of Hope is more of a “spiritual sequel” to Kingdom Battle: “We never designed it as a sequel, but a new take on the tactical genre,” game director D
avide Soliani told IGN. Soliani, who you may remember from his endearing appearance at E3 2017, also directed the original game
This time around, levels aren’t linear; planets instead are open locations you can explore, each with their own stories and characters. Ubisoft has also altered gameplay in a significant way, doing away with Kingdom Battle’s grid system in favor of “a focus on fluidity and the action offered by the possibility to move the heroes in real-time.”
Sparks of Hope features nine playable characters, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Rabbid Luigi, Rabbid Peach, Rabbid Rosalina, and more.
Detective Pikachu 2
A sequel to the 2018 3DS game Detective Pikachu is in development for Switch.
Detective Pikachu 2 will provide a conclusion to the cliffhanger ending of the first game. Nintendo says the sequel will have “a different take on the ending than what you saw in theaters,” referring to the Ryan Reynolds-voiced Detective Pikachu movie.
We called the first Detective Pikachu game “a bold take on the iconic Pokemon, which succeeds thanks to Pika Prompts that build Pikachu beyond detective stereotypes.”
Metroid Prime 4
In 2017, Nintendo announced work had begun on Metroid Prime 4, reportedly at Bandai Namco Studios Singapore. It was a celebratory day for Metroid fans, who hadn’t had a new Prime game since 2007.
However, Nintendo scrapped that game in 2019 and announced development was restarting at Retro Studios, the Nintendo-owned studio responsible for the original Metroid Prime trilogy. The decision was made after Nintendo concluded the first version of Metro Prime 4 wasn’t meeting its standards for the series.
Longtime series producer Kensuke Tanabe is still overseeing the project at Retro. He’s joined by former DICE art director Jhony Ljungstedt, who was hired for the same role by Retro in 2020.
Outside of a logo, we’ve yet to see anything official from Nintendo. The last update came during E3 2021, when the company said it was still “working hard” on Metroid Prime 4.
The series’ latest, Metroid Dread, was released in 2021. We awarded it a 9 and said it “has just enough clever innovation to balance its familiarity.”
Pikmin 4
Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed Pikmin 4 was in development back in 2015, saying at the time the game was “actually very close to completion.” However, in the six-plus years since, Nintendo has yet to reveal anything official related to Pikmin 4.
The following year Miyamoto reiterated development was ongoing, though he noted it had fallen down Nintendo’s list of priorities. The next (and latest) update came at E3 2017 when Miyamoto once again said Pikmin 4 was “progressing.”
The series’ most recent mainline game, Pikmin 3, was released for Wii U in 2013. Pikmin 3 Deluxe, which adds new content and quality-of-life improvements, came to Switch in 2020.
Nintendo DLC
Nintendo currently has two notable DLCs in development, one for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and one for Metroid Dread.
The Mario Kart DLC is the Booster Course Pass. It includes 48 remade retro tracks that will be released over six waves for $25 USD. The first wave will be released on March 18, with Nintendo planning to release all 48 tracks by the end of 2023 — at which point the game will feature over half of all Mario Kart tracks ever made.
Metroid Dread, meanwhile, is getting a free boss rush mode in April. As the name suggests, the mode will have you “battling bosses continuously, one at a time.”
There you have it: every Nintendo game we know to be in development. Let us know what you think of Nintendo’s upcoming lineup by commenting or voting in the poll below!
Interested in more content like this? Check out our article on every game in development at EA and stay tuned for our similar breakdown of every game in development at Ubisoft.
