Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo’s keeping busy this autumn after all (Picture: Nintendo)
GameCentral runs through Nintendo’s release schedule for the coming months as well as what each of its studios could be working on next.
For a while, it looked as if the second half of 2023 would be extremely quiet for Nintendo. After The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, all it had was Pikmin 4, with no other exclusives to speak of.
This drought only added fuel to speculation of a Nintendo Switch 2 launch in the near future. While many still believe Nintendo’s next console will be out next year, that last Nintendo Direct showed the publisher still has plans to keep the current Switch going into 2024.
No doubt Nintendo has far more projects in the pipeline that it’s simply keeping quiet about but, for the time being, let’s run down every major Nintendo title that has been announced, as well as speculate what Nintendo’s various studios could be working on.
Pikmin 4
Following last month’s Everybody 1-2-Switch is Pikmin 4, which is scheduled to launch on July 21. This thing was technically announced back in 2015, but next to nothing was really shown of it till last year’s teaser trailer.
The series hasn’t exactly been among Nintendo’s more profitable franchises, but early impressions of Pikmin 4 suggest it’s making a concerted effort to attract new players and not just established fans.
Time will tell whether it achieves mainstream appeal, but a demo is currently available so any non-Pikmin fans can get a feel for what the series is about.
Baten Kaitos 1 & 2 HD Remaster
Back when Xenoblade Chronicles studio Monolith Soft was under Bandai Namco, it developed Baten Kaitos and its prequel Baten Kaitos: Origins, a pair of GameCube exclusive roleplaying titles.
Although Monolith Soft is now a Nintendo subsidiary, all three parties have arranged to have both Baten Kaitos games be remastered for the Switch, with the duology scheduled for September 14.
Presumably, Monolith Soft has a wholly original project in the pipeline, but with Xenoblade Chronicles 3 concluding its current story arc, it’s difficult to tell whether Xenoblade Chronicles 4 is next on the list or something else altogether.
Plus, Monolith Soft is bound to be busy assisting with the development on other Nintendo projects. Since it was bought out, it’s helped work on several major titles, including Tears Of The Kingdom.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: The Teal Mask And The Indigo Disk DLC
They don’t have exact launch dates yet, but Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s two DLC expansions – The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk – are expected to arrive this autumn and winter respectively.
These expansions will add new locations to explore, new characters to meet, and new pokémon to battle and catch.
As for what Game Freak will work on next, it is teaming up with Take-Two subsidiary Private Division for Project Bloom, a new title planned for 2026, but that’ll presumably be multiplatform.
This is no doubt something it will have to balance alongside whatever its next Pokémon project is, be it Generation 10, a follow up to Pokémon Legends: Arceus, or something else entirely.
Detective Pikachu Returns
While Game Freak is busy with the aforementioned DLC, Creatures (the studio responsible for the Pokémon games’ 3D models) will be launching its Detective Pikachu sequel on October 6.
The first game launched for the 3DS in 2018 so the sequel’s Switch launch means it will benefit visually, and it certainly looks as charming as its predecessor. Although it’s clearly not Nintendo’s main October launch.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
On October 20, just two weeks after Detective Pikachu Returns, Nintendo will be launching its newest 2D Mario platformer titled Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
While it retains the gameplay and multiplayer co-op of the New Super Mario Bros. games, it’s dropped the ‘New’ part of the title and has adopted a whole new art style. Perhaps to better fit its zanier presentation, with Mario now capable of turning into an elephant and a new flower item that can make all manner of bizarre things happen, such as bring pipes to life.
With how stacked October’s release schedule is, Nintendo is clearly confident that Super Mario Bros. Wonder will flourish despite the competition. In fact, it’ll be out the same day as Spider-Man 2, Sony’s next big PlayStation 5 exclusive.
The game is being handled by Nintendo EPD, the studio behind such acclaimed titles as Super Mario Odyssey studio, which was also rumoured to be doing a new Donkey Kong game as well. However, those rumours are over two years old now and there’s been so sign of such a project.
The studio was hiring for new 2D and 3D games back in 2019, so it’s probably safe to assume the former was for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. As for the latter, that could very well be the sequel/follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey.
WarioWare: Move It!
Much like October, Nintendo has two exclusives scheduled for November; the first of which is WarioWare: Move It from Intelligent Systems.
The Switch already got WarioWare: Get It Together in 2021 and this one is set to be yet another collection of bizarre microgames. Although this time, they’ll make more use out of the Joy-Con’s motion controls, making it a successor to the Wii entry WarioWare: Smooth Moves.
Intelligent Systems is also the studio responsible for Fire Emblem, so that’s likely its next priority. The question is whether it’ll be a brand new entry or another remake.
A popular rumour that’s lingered for a couple of years is a remake of Fire Emblem: Genealogy Of The Holy War, the franchise’s fourth entry which has never officially launched in the West.
Super Mario RPG remake
Definitely the bigger November Nintendo exclusive, the original Super Mario RPG from 1996 remains a fan favourite so the announcement of a remake sparked a lot of excitement. So much so that Amazon pre-orders briefly outsold sales of Tears Of The Kingdom.
The original game was developed by Squaresoft, which would go on to become Square Enix. While Square Enix is clearly involved with the remake, Nintendo hasn’t specified exactly who is making it yet. So, it’s unclear whether it’s primarily being done in-house at Nintendo or Square Enix.
Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC
The first half of Splatoon 3’s expansion pass has been and gone, but there’s still no sign of when the second half – Side Order – is meant to come out.
Exactly what it entails isn’t known either, with it only described as featuring a new storyline; one presumed to be focusing on Pearl and Marina, the idol duo from Splatoon 2.
Nintendo’s website says it’ll be out by the end of 2024 so fans may not want to hold their breath for a 2023 launch.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe still has two more DLC waves to go, with wave 5 launching next week on July 12 and wave 6 expected to arrive before the end of the year.
The real question, though, is what happens next? While a Mario Kart 9 was said to be in development and would be revealed in 2022, Nintendo wound up announcing the aforementioned DLC instead.
At this point, Mario Kart 9 is likely being saved for Nintendo’s next console. After all, Nintendo has never launched two Mario Kart games for the same console, not counting that Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit spin-off for Switch.
Metroid Prime 4
It has been six years since Metroid Prime 4 was announced with just a logo and in that time, the series has seen two 2D games – the Metroid 2 remake and Metroid Dread – and a remaster of the first Metroid Prime. Yet there have been no real updates on Metroid Prime 4’s development.
The only other time Nintendo mentioned it was in early 2019 when it admitted development had to be restarted. Nintendo never said who the original developer was (rumours point to Bandai Namco), but it’s now in the works at Retro Studios, the same studio that handled the previous Metroid Prime games.
There was speculation of a new update after the Nintendo store website added a ‘register your interest’ page last month, but Metroid Prime 4 was obviously absent from the newest Nintendo Direct.
Remasters of Metroid Prime 2 and 3 are also still rumoured to be in the works, which you’d assume Nintendo would want out before Metroid Prime 4, but this doesn’t narrow down when any of them could launch.
Some fans theorise that Metroid Prime 4 is being held back for Nintendo’s next console, but the publisher has insisted that it’ll keep releasing games for the current Switch well past 2023.
Untitled Princess Peach game
Princess Peach will be getting her second ever solo title some time in 2024, but its brief showing at the last Nintendo Direct didn’t really confirm anything, not even the game’s name.
What gameplay was shown doesn’t look like a traditional platformer, though it will have a 2D perspective with 3D movement like the early Paper Mario games.
Next Level Games
Luigi’s Mansion 2 – is Next Level Games just busy with the Luigi’s Mansion 2 remaster? (Picture: Nintendo)
Next Level Games’ last title, Mario Strikers: Battle League Football, launched over a year ago and since it stopped receiving new content after just six months, the studio must have already begun working on its next game.
There’s no hint as to what that game could be, though. Under Nintendo, it’s handled two Luigi’s Mansion games, two Mario sports spin-offs, the Wii Punch-Out game, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force, but there’s no telling if it’s involved with any of those franchises.
Nintendo did reveal that a Switch remaster of Luigi’s Mansion 2 is in the works for next year so Next Level Games may be working on that for the time being.
NDcube
Mario Party Superstars – it’s a bit weird that Mario Party Superstars never got any post-launch DLC (Picture: Nintendo)
Given its primarily worked on the Mario Party series in recent years, it’s easy to assume that NDcube’s next project is another one of those. Perhaps something wholly original as opposed to Mario Party Superstars, which featured boards and minigames from previous entries.
The studio did just launch Everybody 1-2-Switch, but considering Nintendo appeared to have given up on it before it even came out (there were reports last year of it being scrapped altogether), NDcube is sure to have been moved onto something else.
More: Trending
Hal Laboratory
Kirby And The Forgotten Land – a new Kirby will happen, it’s just a matter of when (Picture: Nintendo)
Since March 2022, Hal Laboratory put out no less than three different Kirby games, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the studio is already neck deep in another one.
Hopefully, it’s another 3D entry like Kirby And The Forgotten Land, which would make sense considering that game is the best selling entry in the series. The studio did say they weren’t abandoning the 2D formula, but we just had the Kirby’s Return To Dream Land remake this year, which felt like something of a step back for the series.
Grezzo
The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – could Grezzo be working on another remake? (Picture: Nintendo)
Grezzo isn’t a Nintendo subsidiary but it has been responsible for several 3DS and Switch remakes, such as The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, as well as a handful of original Nintendo exclusives like Ever Oasis.
The studio’s been quiet since 2021’s Miitopia remake though, with its next project an Apple Arcade racing game called Jet Dragon.
Nintendo never said which studio is handling the Luigi’s Mansion 2 remaster for Switch so, given Grezzo’s track record, maybe it’s working on that while Next Level Games is busy with something else? After all, it worked with Nintendo on remaking the first Luigi’s Mansion for the 3DS.
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GameCentral runs through Nintendo’s release schedule for the coming months as well as what each of its studios could be working on next.
