Rumour Nintendo might not have a major Switch title after Zelda as they prepare to move on to new hardware

[Oregano]

The problem with these types of predictions is that a team like NdCube could come out with a casual game that sells 15m+ copies and no one would consider that major right now.

Hell would a Luigi's Mansion 4 even be considered major despite 3 doing over 12m copies?

 

[Beanstar40]

That makes sense i suppose. Sorry if this is controversial, im not trying to rile any feathers. But for my tastes, it seems like they released most of the big first party switch games within the consoles first 3 years. I wonder if they will space them out a little more next time around

 

[hologram]

The problem with these types of predictions is that a team like NdCube could come out with a casual game that sells 15m+ copies and no one would consider that major right now.

Hell would a Luigi's Mansion 4 even be considered major despite 3 doing over 12m copies?

Right, any definition of "major" that precludes hypothetical sequels to Luigi's Mansion or, say, Ring Fit Adventure is a bit silly. Not to say Andy and Chris are definitively excluding them but it's another reason not to put too much stock in what they're saying

 

[Linkstrikesback]

That makes sense i suppose. Sorry if this is controversial, im not trying to rile any feathers. But for my tastes, it seems like they released most of the big first party switch games within the consoles first 3 years. I wonder if they will space them out a little more next time around

They won't. It makes sense to get them out as early in a systems life as possible because their biggest sellers have long legs which means every month they're not out is just hurting lifetime sales, and it's more important to get people in the door than worry about spacing things out for the minority of hardcore's who have to play everything asap.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

That tweet emanates big "Nintendo always makes the same 3-4 series. We need new IPs! By the way, Splatoon, ARMS, and Ring Fit do not count" energy.

 

[Supreme Overlord]

This is one of those things that I wouldn't read too terribly much into, as many of these super major titles are already accounted for -- except, perhaps, the likes of new Mario and such, which I wouldn't really expect people to know about.

And then there's the consideration of what a major title is. There are a great many games Nintendo could release that might be extremely exciting to many but wouldn't be considered among these major titles. A proposed lack of the heaviest hitters isn't cause to be necessarily concerned about the lineup as a whole.

It's time for some other titles to shine. I still think the likes of Pikmin, StarFox, and Kid Icarus could find elevation.

The middest years of the Switch have brought me my absolute top-tier favorite Switch games:

• Torna (2018)
• Dark Souls: Remastered (2018)
• Trials of Mana (Remake) (2020)
• Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020)
• Pikmin 3 Deluxe (2020)
• Hades (2020)

There certainly are further remasters they could bring forward (see Dark Souls and especially Pikmin here). Something like Color Splash or Yoshi's Woolly World would make sense as those teams work on other projects. Kid Icarus: Uprising especially makes sense.

I really just quoted this for the shoutout to Torna, though. I really appreciate how that was available as its own cartridge. Haven't managed to get to it yet, but I did pick it up before getting the Switch, and actually look forward to it more than the base game.

Nintendo, hurry up and press the "Gamecube Remaster/Remakes" button!

Metroid Prime, F-Zero GX, Paper Mario TTYD HD

What's this? You left off Eternal Darkness. This. Can't. Be. Happening.
Pikmin 1 and 2, CubivoreI, Chibi Robo and GiFTPiA, Geist, here we come

How many of these do I have to sacrifice to get a Smash Bros Fighter Pass 3?

Fighters Pass 3 (and various other content) is developed under Sakurai's supervision to train successors and will be made available along with the complete Super Smash Bros. Ultimate SpecialI. Please be excited.

Can't wait to spend 2023 bitterly arguing with people who say EPDonkey Kong isn't a significant new Switch title.

puts gloves and goggles on

Another year without a new DK.

Donkey Kong is being positioned to highlight the new hardwares abilities, with the environment and fur rendering in the artstyle and such. Please understand.

 

[Magic-Man]

Another year without a new DK.

Oh come on Pikmin isn't tiny.

Well, they literally are BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT

 

[Marce-chan]

I think it's mostly speculation. We know of at least Pikmin 4 coming later in 2023, and there's Metroid Prime 4 which is probably 2024 coming to Switch.

 

[Mango]

It's not like every year has like 10 different internally developed huge games, so I'd hardly say this even counts as news. Zelda is the big release next year, and it was always gonna be the biggest release of whatever year it came out in. Moreover if the bar is defined by Zelda or something huge like a 3D Mario or Splatoon, than Prime 4 could easily release next year and still have this statement about no big games after Zelda be true.

 

[Marce-chan]

EDIT: lol

What a terrible take
If that was true they wouldn't waste at the very least 4 years making Pikmin 4, after already having rebooted it. In terms of development cost, it's gonna be the most AAA Nintendo games get.

It's a very well regarded B-tier franchise for Nintendo, and one of the few games that don't sell at least 5M that they give that kind of big budget and large development time to, the other one being Metroid.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Oh come on Pikmin isn't tiny.

Well, they literally are BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT

Pikmins biggest seller is at about 2.3m or so, and that's with whatever growth the switch had for the series.

It's certainly a tiny series in every reasonable description one could use. The only thing that keeps it alive is because Miyamoto essentially considers it his baby and even that's not enough to stop it disappearing for decade+ at a time even as he pushes for it.

What a terrible take
If that was true they wouldn't waste at the very least 4 years making Pikmin 4, after already having rebooted it. In terms of development cost, it's gonna be the most AAA Nintendo games get.

It's a very well regarded B-tier franchise for Nintendo, and one of the few games that don't sell at least 5M that they give that kind of big budget and large development time to, the other one being Metroid.

It's definitely not going to be costing anywhere near any of the big Nintendo games in budget, lol. The much more likely explanation than them rebooting the game is that it was never more than a small team working on it because the series straight doesn't have that much priority and they only finally got around to it now.

If it was actually nearly done when Miyamoto said it was, they'd have pushed it out on the Wii U because they were goddamned desperately trying to get any and everything out and let standards fall through the floor. Gestures wildly at Mario Tennis ultra smash and animal crossing amiibo festival

 

[Xaltmas]

If the rest of the lifespan of the Switch is filled with ports/remasters like F-Zero GX, Kid Icarus Uprising, Metroid Prime, etc I won't complain at all.

 

[Magic-Man]

Pikmins biggest seller is at about 2.3m or so, and that's with whatever growth the switch had for the series.

It's certainly a tiny series in every reasonable description one could use. The only thing that keeps it alive is because Miyamoto essentially considers it his baby and even that's not enough to stop it disappearing for decade+ at a time even as he pushes for it.

A lot of Nintendo games sell less and are considered bigger. Metroid for example.

 

[lexony]

Simple as that.

No:

• mainline Mario
• new Mario Kart
• new Zelda
• new Splatoon
• new Animal Crossing
• Metroid Prime 4

Still on the table:

• Metroid Prime 4
• Pikmin 4
• Mario spinoffs
• Pokémon spinoffs
• Astral Chain 2, for example
• Splatoon tactics, for example
• Xenoblade Warriors, for example
• literally anything third party
• literally anything else that's not a 10+ million EPD tent pole release

In other words,

…it‘s finally time for the cool, most of the time by Nintendo and Fans overlooked, IPs which will somehow do surprisingly well on Nintendo Switch.

 

[BassForever]

Pikmins biggest seller is at about 2.3m or so, and that's with whatever growth the switch had for the series.

It's certainly a tiny series in every reasonable description one could use. The only thing that keeps it alive is because Miyamoto essentially considers it his baby and even that's not enough to stop it disappearing for decade+ at a time even as he pushes for it.



It's definitely not going to be costing anywhere near any of the big Nintendo games in budget, lol. The much more likely explanation than them rebooting the game is that it was never more than a small team working on it because the series straight doesn't have that much priority and they only finally got around to it now.

If it was actually nearly done when Miyamoto said it was, they'd have pushed it out on the Wii U because they were goddamned desperately trying to get any and everything out and let standards fall through the floor. Gestures wildly at Mario Tennis ultra smash and animal crossing amiibo festival

It's a franchise where every mainline game sells a solid million. A lot of companies wish their "tiny" series could sell that well.

 

[Marce-chan]

I could maybe see this being true if the definition of "major" is limited to the massive 10mil+ types of games like 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Smash Bros, Splatoon, etc. The only one of those I think we're really "due" for anyway at this point is a new 2D or 3D Mario. I would imagine we'll still see some games in that 3-5mil range, though. It would be a very strange type of incompetence to drop support for the system that quickly while it's still moving so much software.

Even by that definition it's not gonna age well as we'll definitely have Pokémon in 2024.
Also I'm pretty sure almost nobody has information on the 3D Mario, 2D Mario and DK games being developed. Nintendo can just announce any of those for next holiday and nobody knowing that in advance.

 

[Rainbow]

I mean, no shiz Sherlock!

I didn't thought there would be another AAA game besides Zelda. It only makes sense to give Zelda space to breath.

But than theres already a new Fire Emblem and Pikmin this year and probably Advance Wars too. Pour in more ports/ remasters* and all those DLC's ( Splatoon 3, XC3, MK8, TotK)and it's a very fine year already.

 

[Nathan Little]

Just wild to me there's a strong chance DK might skip the Switch in terms of new releases, which would be a franchise first. I really pray that isn't the case.

 

[Tbone5189]

It’s difficult to imagine none of the three EPD 2D/3D Action Game projects surfacing next year after so long; 2D Mario isn’t the type of title I could see them sitting on for new hardware.

My definition of major differs greatly from what is clearly being applied here anyway, so I think no matter what i’ll be good.



Pikmin 3 Deluxe was (internally) delayed for fill in the Q4 that 3D World + Bowser’s Fury was pushed out of; so I don’t think they’d intentionally repeat the October timing if they can help it.



We know Creatures are currently working on two spin-offs but I have to imagine Detective Pikachu 2 would show up before whatever the other one is.

He changed the wording since to remove the implication of Detective Pikachu 2 releasing soon (now “in development” instead of “nearing release”), but you can’t unsee what you’ve already seen!



It’d be a miracle for Metroid to get to half of that; and it’s not launching in 2023 anyway. 5m would be a really impressive milestone for a series that just passed 3m for the first time earlier this year with Dread.

If you think Nintendo wants to make this ip only sell over 3mil and below 5mil in comparison to that of dead, I don't know what to tell you... oh wait I do! MP4 can also be the breakout for the franchise as BotW was for Zelda. If there is 1 ga,e that has a chance of breaking out of a sales pattern, its prime 4. You can save this post, MP4 ain't selling less than 7mil

 

[Raccoon]

regardless of its veracity I think we can all agree this is the most bummer gaming side thread title in ages

 

[Magic-Man]

Just wild to me there's a strong chance DK might skip the Switch in terms of new releases, which would be a franchise first. I really pray that isn't the case.

Metroid, Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing, and Mario Kart fans: "First time?"

 

[Linkstrikesback]

It's a franchise where every mainline game sells a solid million. A lot of companies wish their "tiny" series could sell that well.

Yeah, and? What would considered great for a small indie company isn't sustainable for a massive first party. Context is obviously incredibly important.

Nintendo has a place for series that sell a solid million, except it's a big old graveyard they occasionally dig the bones out of when they're feeling charitable. Which is why the series keeps going a decade without new entries, and once Miyamoto is no longer there to push for it, I suspect it'll only take longer.

The best chance the series has is if they've found a good outsourcing partner, eighting or whoever it was who did the switch port of 3 perhaps. I still suspect that's the case for 4 while I'm bringing that up

 

[Magic-Man]

regardless of its veracity I think we can all agree this is the most bummer gaming side thread title in ages

Hey I didn't know how to word it okay

 

[Raccoon]

Hey I didn't know how to word it okay

no not you, this rumor is just a cartoonish bummer

 

[Marce-chan]

I don't believe this. I expect backward compatibility and a long cross gen period like the other consoles. No way they just hard stop support for the original switch.

Exactly. They aren't leaving the 100M+ active user base, let alone doing the same thing they did with Wii of sending a new Zelda of all games to die on the machine and wait a year to release hardware.

 

[Brock Reiher]

Haven't they already announced a few?

 

[Maxrunner]

So what are the Mario Odyssey, Mario kart and arms team doing?

 

[Marce-chan]

Hmmm....so maybe we are on the timeline where Totk was made by the minority of Zelda team and that's why it took so long. Since 2017 the majority is working on a brand new Zelda built from the ground up to the next console.

/S, right??

 

[Magic-Man]

So what are the Mario Odyssey, Mario kart and arms team doing?

3D Mario, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC, and Mario Kart Tour.

 

[Mekanos]

If you think Nintendo wants to make this ip only sell over 3mil and below 5mil in comparison to that of dead, I don't know what to tell you... oh wait I do! MP4 can also be the breakout for the franchise as BotW was for Zelda. If there is 1 ga,e that has a chance of breaking out of a sales pattern, its prime 4. You can save this post, MP4 ain't selling less than 7mil

We haven't even seen a trailer for Prime 4 and you're confident it will more than double the best selling Metroid game?

 

[Raccoon]

/S, right??

let people dream

we have so little right now...

 

[LukasManak22]

3D Mario, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC, and Mario Kart Tour.

the last one being new Mario Kart game.

 

[Magic-Man]

the last one being new Mario Kart game.

Maybe pre-production. Not actual production.

 

[Marce-chan]

I mean if we take “big title” as just big sellers, does Prime 4 count?

No.
If we use "big title" as in AAA game/big budget games, then if Prime 4 doesn't count not even TotK would.

 

[C_Ali]

We haven't even seen a trailer for Prime 4 and you're confident it will more than double the best selling Metroid game?

It’s called FAITH!

 

[LukasManak22]

Maybe pre-production. Not actual production.

I believe it's already in production. Even if they have not worked on anything than Tour after ARMS (which is still suspicious since huge names are not credited in Tour) and it's bold to assume that Booster Course Pass is taking so many recources and could be done earlier than we assume. I believe new Mario Kart game is further than we may think.

 

[Tbone5189]

We haven't even seen a trailer for Prime 4 and you're confident it will more than double the best selling Metroid game?

I never said double

Spoiler

More than triple yes. I haven't seen it, nobody has but the just from the little info we have I know they want it to be big. They managed to do it with a 2D entry and it sold 3mil.

 

[Mbolibombo]

What's huge anyway? TotK is as huge as it gets from Nintendo so obviously that's a tall order to match for any game pretty much.

I still feel positive about a 2D Mario coming for Switch and that's definitely a huge game an depending on what is a huge game or not Prime 4 is also heading to Switch and it's probably one of the most expensive Nintendo games of all time. But it definitely feels like we're heading towards the endgame and the next cycle of huge games after them will be on the successor.

 

[Thunder84]

Yeah, and? What would considered great for a small indie company isn't sustainable for a massive first party. Context is obviously incredibly important.

Nintendo has a place for series that sell a solid million, except it's a big old graveyard they occasionally dig the bones out of when they're feeling charitable. Which is why the series keeps going a decade without new entries, and once Miyamoto is no longer there to push for it, I suspect it'll only take longer.

The best chance the series has is if they've found a good outsourcing partner, eighting or whoever it was who did the switch port of 3 perhaps. I still suspect that's the case for 4 while I'm bringing that up

Pikmin isn’t going anywhere, come on now. If context is so important, maybe it’s worth bringing up that Pikmin 1-3 were all released on Nintendo’s two biggest underperforming consoles of all time.

Pikmin 4 will sell great, and the series will likely see more a more consistent release schedule in the future due to Nintendo’s internal expansion. It’s not gonna be outsourced, and it’s not gonna die once Miyamoto is gone.

 

[Catalyst]

8 Deluxe DLC is obviously not going to be the only Mario game released next year. So what other options do they have? It's too early for Paper, Party or Golf/Tennis. Luigi's Mansion is probably a 2024 thing. Some people think Bamco is working on a new Sluggers but there's nothing really to indicate that. I'm going to believe there's a Mario platformer of some sort in 2023 until it's confirmed otherwise.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

Just wild to me there's a strong chance DK might skip the Switch in terms of new releases, which would be a franchise first. I really pray that isn't the case.

Nah, Switch is still alive and kicking. Mainline DK games have also historically been released near the end of a console generation -- see SNES Country, 64, Jungle Beat, and Returns. Tropical Freeze was the exception to the rule.

Besides, I don't think the guy considers Donkey Kong a high-profile franchise.

8 Deluxe DLC is obviously not going to be the only Mario game released next year. So what other options do they have? It's too early for Paper, Party or Golf/Tennis. Luigi's Mansion is probably a 2024 thing. Some people think Bamco is working on a new Sluggers but there's nothing really to indicate that. I'm going to believe there's a Mario platformer of some sort in 2023 until it's confirmed otherwise.

Both 2D and 3D Mario games are likely in development. As with DK, it's more a matter of "when" than of "if".

Paper Mario Color Splash is also an easy port.

 

[Nathan Little]

Metroid, Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing, and Mario Kart fans: "First time?"

Well technically Animal Crossing hasn't actually skipped a console. It certainly wasn't what anybody wanted but it was something. It also helps AC fans there was a game on 3DS.

Like DK, Mario Kart 9 could still happen, but it's looking rough.

 

[Magic-Man]

I believe it's already in production. Even if they have not worked on anything than Tour after ARMS (which is still suspicious since huge names are not credited in Tour) and it's bold to assume that Booster Course Pass is taking so many recources and could be done earlier than we assume. I believe new Mario Kart game is further than we may think.

I don't think they're working mostly on the Booster Course Pass. I think they're working on Tour. The sheer amount of content the game is currently getting is insane. Two or three tracks release a month, and datamines show it's not stopping any time soon. It kinda makes me wonder if they're trying to remake every single track for a future Mario Kart Ultimate.

 

[Catalyst]

Well technically Animal Crossing hasn't actually skipped a console. It certainly wasn't what anybody wanted but it was something. It also helps AC fans there was a game on 3DS.

Like DK, Mario Kart 9 could still happen, but it's looking rough.

I don't think the two are in the same boat. The idea of Mario Kart 9 on Switch was killed as soon as the Booster Course Pass was revealed. DK for Switch is still very likely to happen.

 

[Mekanos]

I never said double

Spoiler

More than triple yes. I haven't seen it, nobody has but the just from the little info we have I know they want it to be big. They managed to do it with a 2D entry and it sold 3mil.

I expect Prime 4 to outsell Dread, but there simply isn't enough data about the game to draw any other conclusion. Especially depending on when it releases in regards to a new Switch system.

 

[Nathan Little]

I don't think the two are in the same boat. The idea of Mario Kart 9 on Switch was killed as soon as the Booster Course Pass was revealed. DK for Switch is still very likely to happen.

I guess that's true. Still not very confident about DK though.

 

[MisterSpo]

The problem with these types of predictions is that a team like NdCube could come out with a casual game that sells 15m+ copies and no one would consider that major right now.

Hell would a Luigi's Mansion 4 even be considered major despite 3 doing over 12m copies?

Luigi's Mansion 4 is a single player game with easily noticeable production values (high quality animation) so it'd perhaps just about count.

The new Animal Crossing spin off from NdCube that I'm willing into existence for Q4 2023 will not count as a major release despite shifting comparable amounts to Luigi's Mansion 3 and Splatoon 2/3.

 

[Skies]

I can't wait to find out what goalposts will need to be moved come June when Nintendo announces their significant OG Switch holiday 2023 title(s).

This is the most "bookmark for future crow" insider post in awhile. If Nintendo had nothing worthy of a holiday slot for next year, they would just delay tears of the kingdom to fill the slot.

 

[NintendoPrime]

The biggest thing in this whole story I find interesting is it means ending Switch with Zelda as the last big title - which is fine - but also gives it a very short run. Also, further digging sort of suggests that Mario and the rest are coming but next-gen only, which again - is FINE! But also... again, where would that leave ToTK. Giving ToTK a year run feels like selling the game short.

I get a 4K remaster or something could easily drop during year 1 of the new system of course. But if they didn't do that, even with BC, it sort of leaves ToTK in a weird place beyond launch sales, given how ever green the last Zelda game became. Might be worrying for nothing, of course.

 

[MisterSpo]

Yeah the next logical questions are:

1) If Zelda is Nintendo's last major/significant title before new hardware, how long of a gap do you expect before the next major/significant game?
2) What will Nintendo release across September to December 2023?

The only year Nintendo struggled for major releases in Q4 was 2020, peak pandemic, and they still managed to squeeze put 3D Mario re-releases either side of that period (September 2020 and February 2021). And Q4 still had multiple releases, to boot.

Edit - I also still think that major/significant is too iffy a signifier because it is usually used in such a hyper selective way with Nintendo which ignores plenty of major releases. Mario Party in October 2023 isn't a game I give a damn about but it has really become a major hit on Switch, for example.