Coliseum

After airing a Nintendo Direct squarely focused on The Legend of Zelda yesterday, Nintendo released a traditional Direct this morning chock-full of more general news and updates. The biggest highlights include the reveals of new Kirby and Metroid titles, plus release dates for long-awaited projects such as Professor Layton and the New World of Steam. As usual, if you missed the live broadcast, we’ve recapped every new update in this quick summary, complete with trailers and links to the full write-ups for applicable stories. 

Monster Hunter Wilds

• Comes to Switch 2 on December 4
• Its expansion, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, comes to Switch 2 in 2027 alongside previously announced versions

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

• Launches on Switch 2 today.
• Remaster of the PSP Final Fantasy VII prequel starring Zack Fair.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition

• Launches on Switch 2 on February 25.
• Includes Expansion Pass content, enhanced visuals and framerate, and more on-screen enemies.
• Includes new Calamity Mode difficulty.
• Can transfer save data from the original Switch version. 

Mecca Chameleon

• The hit hide-and-seek multiplayer game comes to Switch 2 today
• Full article

Pokémon Pokopia – Expansion Pass Part 2

• Launches later this year.
• Trailer shows off new accessories coming in Part 2 of the game’s Expansion Pack.
• Full article

Star Fox

• Free update adds local splitscreen multiplayer to Battle Mode along with three new stages: Kantina, Sector X, and Venom. 
• You can now play 4-player online multiplayer on a single Switch 2 console. 
• The update arrives on September 29. 
• Full article

Star Fox Adventures

• The 2002 action-adventure game is now available on the GameCube Classics library for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Royal Edition

• Comes to Switch 2 in 2027. 
• Includes the base game and its story expansions, exclusive gear, and a bonus questline.

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam

• Launches on December 10 for Switch 2 and Switch
• Set during the dawn of the Industrial Age, Layton and Luke travel to the American town of Steam Bison, which is plagued by mysterious incidents.

Yo-Kai Watch 2: Haunted Domain

• Coming to Switch 2 at an unannounced date.
• Haunted Domain is an enhanced remake of 2016’s Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits/Fleshy Souls and 2017’s Yo-Kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters.
• Features new story content and other yet-to-be-revealed features.

Pikmin 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy

• Launches on November 12 for Switch 2.
• New voice commands for Oatchi using the Switch 2 microphone.
• Adds new Dandori Academy time-challenge mode.
• Full article

Onyx: The Dark Grip 

• Launches in 2027 exclusively for Switch 2
• 2.5D horror game by Bloober Team where players control a mysterious entity guiding a lone traveler through a dangerous ghost town.
• Only playable in handheld mode. 

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

• New Heroes’ Vault mode lets you battle waves of enemies to gain strength and allies. 
• Shimmer, a new hero who can see the future, joins the game.

Stage Fright

• Launches on Switch 2 and Switch in 2027.
• Next game by the makers of the Overcooked series.
• Two-player co-op adventure (local and online) where players solve escape rooms and unravel an ancient mystery.

Disney Dreamlight Valley: The Keepsake Sea

• New Little Mermaid-themed expansion with new storylines and characters like Milo Thatch (Atlantis: The Lost Empire), Megara (Hercules), and Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean).
• Arrives on the Switch 2 and Switch versions in November.

Ondeh Ondeh Kaya’s Tasty Tale

• Launches for Switch 2 in 2027. 
• 3D platformer built around music-based puzzles. 

Kirby Air Riders

• Sword Kirby & Dragoon and Noir Dedede & Hydra amiibo arrive on November 12.
• New event incoming to earn rewards.

Cairn

• Comes to Switch 2 in early 2027.
• Free demo available today.

Resident Evil Remakes

• Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition (includes DLC), Resident Evil 3, and Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition coming digitally to Switch 2 on October 16.
• Full article

Metroid Ravenous

• Launches on Switch 2 on January 28
• 2D entry that is seemingly a follow-up to Metroid Dread.
• New amiibo figures and Special Edition available at launch.
• Full article

Mario Kart World

• Free update adds 10 Super Mario Kart stages, including Choco Island, Vanilla Lake, and Ghost Valley. 
• Two new Knockout Tour routes: Propeller and Turnip Rally.
• The update is available today. 
• Full article

Mega Man: Dual Override

• First Proto Man gameplay footage revealed.
• Mega Man and Proto Man amiibo will be available at the game’s launch.
• Full article

Eternal Anima

• Launches on March 4 for Switch 2.
• New time-traveling RPG by Marvelous. 
• Full article

Danganronpa 2×2

• Launches on January 14 for Switch 2 and Switch.
• Remake of 2012’s Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. 

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

• Launches on Switch 2 on October 22, with a physical version coming in January. 
• The Starter Edition includes Mikey and Draken from Tokyo Revengers as playable guest characters.
• Includes all previously released DLC fighters. 

Metal Slug Ultimate Collection

• Launches on Switch 2 and Switch in 2027
• Includes 10 games: Metal Slug 1-7, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug Advance, and, for the first time, the long-lost location test version Metal Slug. 
• Features online co-op, gallery mode, an expanded Combat School Mode, and more content

Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force GX

• Launches on February 16 for Switch 2 and Switch.
• Enhanced version of Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force 3 with modern visuals and previously unreleased content in the Americas.
• Physical versions include three Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards.

Romancing SaGa 3: Destined United

• Launches on February 16 for Switch 2 and Switch.
• 3D remake of the 1995 game featuring modern visuals, voice acting, newly arranged music, and more.

Switch 2/Switch Third-Party Partner Release Date Round-Up

• 007 First Light – 2026 (Switch 2)
• Far Cry 3 Classic Edition – Spring 2027 (Switch 2)
• Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon – Classic Edition – Spring 2027 (Switch 2)
• The Crew Motorfest – October 8 (Switch 2)
• The Apothecary Diaries – Early 2027 (Switch 2, Switch)
• House Flipper 2 – October 15 (Switch 2)
• Sonic Pico Park – November 12 (Switch 2, Switch)
• Dragon Quest Monsters:  The Withered World – demo available today on Switch 2
• Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon – Classic HD – available today (Switch 2, Switch)
• Hela: of Mice & Magic – December 1 (Switch 2)
• Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream – December 3 (Switch 2)
• Stellar Blade Complete Edition – November 5 (Switch 2)
• The Ascent Ultimate Edition – December (Switch 2)
• It Takes Two – October 15 (Switch 2)
• Palia – December (Switch 2)
• Bluey’s Happy Snaps – October 15 (Switch 2, Switch)
• Fading Echo – September 17 (Switch 2, demo available today)
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – November 5 (Switch 2)

Persona 4 Revival

• Launches on May 20 for Switch 2.
• Remake of Persona 4 launching on February 18 for other platforms.

Persona 6

• Confirmed to be coming to Switch 2 after being previously announced for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Kirby and the World Beyond

• Launches in spring 2027 for Switch 2
• New 3D open-world adventure centered on Kirby’s copy ability.
• The game celebrates the series’ 35th anniversary next year. 
• Full article

Reality Fracture is the next Magic: The Gathering set, and it’s launching worldwide on October 2. It’s centered around Jace Beleren, a legendary Planeswalker who knows the Multiverse is awry and needs to be fixed at its core. To do so, he will attempt to build an entirely new multiverse, piece by piece, forged in his own image, called the Echoverse, and this set will be themed around all the “What If?” scenarios that might appear as a result. 

Game Informer got an early look at the set from the designers at Wizards of the Coast, learning more about how the team is taking existing mechanics and doing some “wild things” to turn them on their head as part of Reality Fracture. Plus, we have new looks at upcoming cards and details on boxed product and more that will hit your local game store soon. 

Everything We Learned About Magic: The Gathering – Reality Fracture

“[Jace’s] Echoverse, a perfected, mirror reality, is at the heart of Reality Fracture,” according to the team behind this set. “As it threatens to consume the Multiverse we know, Jace’s former allies must rise up against him. Welcome to Reality Fracture, where Jace’s solution is everyone’s problem. […] Jace’s former allies have teamed up to put a stop to his plan, allying with a certain Wildspeaker from Magic’s past.” And you can read the finale to this ten-episode story that’s been unfolding as part of The Magic Story Podcast on Friday, Sept. 11. 

To emphasize the set’s “What If?” theming, you’ll find that mechanics like Amass, for example, which usually makes a creature token an army token, will instead make a Planeswalker token (specifically a Jace Planeswalker token). I mention Jace because Wizards of the Coast says Jace will now show up in almost every single limited game, noting that “it’s a really impactful mechanic” that’s key to Reality Fracture. That “What If?” theming continues throughout the set, even into the makeup of booster packs. In every booster pack, you will find the same character twice, but in different colors. You might open a pack and find both a red Chandra and a blue Chandra, and the Echoverse version of Chandra will have a special watermark on it indicating it’s the “altered reality” version of the card. Another example is that you might open a pack with a Way of the Pyromancer card and a Way of the Cryomancer card as the “altered reality” version; the same goes for Return to the Light Realms sorcery and Rise of the Dark Realms sorcery. 

 

Despite the “altered reality” versions, Wizards of the Coast says it has learned from previous Multiverse-esque releases, and in Reality Fracture, the color pie stays true throughout. 

An Early Look At Magic: The Gathering – Reality Fracture Cards

Below is a gallery featuring many of the main cards you’ll find in Reality Fracture boosters: 

 

And below is a showcase of the borderless tower basic lands: 

 

Next up, a gallery of some of the more interesting (and likely rare) cards you might find in a booster pack: 

 

Magic: The Gathering – Reality Fracture Product

Below, you’ll find images of all the types of boxed product you can find as part of the Reality Fracture set when it hits your local game store: 

 

And that wraps up our early look at Magic: The Gathering – Reality Fracture, which launches October 2. Let us know what you think of the set in the comments below!

A new release date has been discovered! After a delay out of 2026, Danganronpa 2×2 is now set for a January 14, 2027 release.

For those at home who might not be familiar, Danganronpa is a series where several “Ultimates” — students at the top of their respective fields, be it sports, writing, hacking, or even delinquency — are trapped, and told they can either live out their lives together in their new home or escape, by killing another resident and getting away with the crime in the ensuing Class Trial.

Danganronpa 2×2 is a remix of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, where the Ultimates are trapped on the tropical Jabberwock Island. It is a very, very good entry, with some of my favorite trials in the series, and this “reboot” looks to not just enhance the experience, but add onto it.

Slayhem Mode is a new scenario with the same characters and setting, but a new set of trials and challenges to overcome. The trailer teases “Slayhem items,” and it seems like a single incident will up-end the original structure of Danganronpa 2 and unleash a new sequence of events.

It’s been a little while since the last official Danganronpa game, and while creator Kazutaka Kodaka has been very busy making other games (including my 2025 GOTY The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy), he is involved with this update as well, which should bode well.

We’ll see how the Slayhem unfolds when Danganronpa 2×2 arrives on January 14, 2027.

Professor Layton has been on a bit of a sabbatical these past few years. The latest entry came out for the iOS and Android way back in 2017, and a port of that game is the closest thing we got to a new entry during the entirety of the original Nintendo Switch’s lifetime. Professor Layton and the New World of Steam has been in the works for a while now, but it wasn’t until today’s Nintendo Direct that we finally got a release date: December 10, 2026. Check out the new trailer below.

First revealed in February of 2023, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam sees the return of Herschel Layton – his daughter was the star of 2017’s Layton Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy. The series combines a mystery narrative with a wide spread of puzzle minigames, and today’s trailer says New World of Steam has the “biggest collection of puzzles in series history.”

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam comes out on December 10, 2026 on PS5, Switch 2, Switch, and PC. For more news from today’s Nintendo Direct, check out the reveal of the new 2D Metroid and 3D Kirby games.

Developer Warhorse Studios is bringing Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Royal Edition to Nintendo Switch 2 next year. It will feature all base content, premium story expansions, exclusive gear, and a bonus questline. There’s no word on exactly when this massive RPG will hit the Switch 2, however – just that it’s coming sometime in 2027. 

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II launched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in February of last year, and became one of Game Informer’s favorite games of 2025. You can read why we gave it a 9.5 out of 10 in Game Informer’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance II review here. There’s no word on how the game will run on Switch 2, but Warhorse’s previously released Switch 2 port of Kingdom Come: Deliverance (the first game) runs fine, so hopefully the sequel runs as well or better. 

Check it out in action in the Switch 2 trailer for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Royal Edition below: 

At one point, having the Persona games on Switch felt like a pipe dream, primarily because it seemed like PlayStation would forever be the exclusive home to the mainline entries. That all changed in 2022 with the release of Persona 5 Royal on Nintendo Switch, and Atlus has steadily brought its remasters and remakes to Nintendo’s hybrid ecosystem ever since. With Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden arriving on Switch in 2023, Persona 3 Reload in 2025, and Metaphor: ReFantazio – a fantasy RPG made by several former Persona developers still under the Atlus umbrella – in 2026, Nintendo fans have gotten used to playing Persona titles on the go, even if they take a little longer to make it over to the platforms. Today, we learned of another couple of Persona games arriving on Switch 2, as Atlus is bringing Persona 4 Revival and Persona 6 to Switch 2.

As with previous Persona games, Persona 4 Revival won’t hit Switch 2 on the same day as with other platforms. Persona 4 Revival is currently slated to arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on February 18, 2027, but the Switch 2 version won’t release until a few months later, on May 20, 2027. Unlike Persona 4 Golden, the enhanced version that is already on all of those aforementioned platforms (including Switch), Persona 4 Revival is a full remake of the classic 2008 PS2 RPG. Persona 4 Revival reworks the visuals from the ground up, while also adding various quality-of-life improvements that debuted in subsequent entries. Unlike Persona 3 Reload, Persona 4 Revival also retains all the new narrative and gameplay additions from its enhanced version, Persona 4 Golden.

Additionally, Atlus closed out the Persona segment of the Nintendo Direct by a brief teaser that Persona 6 will also be coming to Switch 2. No word on if it will arrive at the same time as other platforms, but it was previously announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. 

We don’t currently have a release date for Persona 6, but Persona 4 Revival arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on February 18, before later coming to Switch 2 on May 20.

The third Switch 2 update for the Xenoblade Chronicles series is on the way, and like its predecessors, it’s adding a bit of new content to the already massive role-playing game. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is set for December 3, 2026, and today we got a look at its new mode and character.

First up, the new mode, Heroes’ Vault, sure looks a lot like the top-down roguelike bullet-heaven genre sometimes called “Survivors” games, after the super-popular Vampire Survivors. You pilot Noah around from a similarly top-down perspective, take out enemies, and gradually build up both resources and a team to take down a final boss at the end.

That seems all well and good, but the news that will probably have Xenoblade Chronicles keenly interested in this update is the new hero, Shimmer. I’m reluctant to post any story details here that might spoil previous games — I’m still playing through the previous two games via Switch 2 update myself — but let’s just say, if you’re familiar with a particular photo shown at the end of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, you might know why Shimmer’s appearance and garb caught the eye of Xenoblade fans.

What role she’ll play in the story, and how much extra content may or may not exist around her, is yet to be seen. But at the very least, by December 3, we’ll have updated Nintendo Switch 2 versions of all three Xenoblade Chronicles games. They’re very, very good role-playing games, so if you’ve got any free time over the holidays, there are a lot worse ways to spend the hours than finally getting into Xenoblade.

For previous owners of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 on the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo will be offering an upgrade pack. It’ll be $9.99, per Nintendo’s eShop page.

Pikmin 4, which released in 2023, is getting a Switch 2 edition with an entirely too long name on November 12. The game, Pikmin 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy, brings the game to Switch 2 with some likely technical improvements and the ability to give Oatchi voice commands using the built-in mic.

The Switch 2 version of the game will also include Dandori Academy, which is functionally a time trial mode. The unique element is that you can practice getting your best times and then take official exams on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to lock in your official scores, which can be compared to friends and others online. 72 Dandori stages are planned and will become available in the game over time.

For more, you can read Game Informer‘s Pikmin 4 review by following the link.

Tokyo-based developer/publisher Marvelous has revealed Eternal Anima, a new RPG with a visual style that looks like the company’s own take on Square Enix’s HD-2D art. It launches on Switch 2 on March 4, 2027. 

Eternal Anima is set in a world covered almost entirely by ocean, and humanity has abandoned its aspirations and wisdom, according to the reveal trailer’s narrator. In the lone city left standing – Urbis Ale – there is only one rule: You must never strive for a better tomorrow. That’s seemingly what protagonist Wade does; however, he uses a mysterious power to relive memories of the past and discovers a world beyond city lines. He’s branded a heretic as a result, but that won’t stop him. 

Check it out in the Eternal Anima reveal trailer below: 

“By inheriting the memories of the world, you acquire the abilities of heroes past,” the trailer’s narrator says. “Peer into the future of [the game’s turn-based] combat to sense and predict enemy actions, then disrupt their next move to take fate into your own hands. As you seek the hidden truths of the world, your adventure will extend back in time. Can you save the past and free the present?” 

Eternal Anima hits Nintendo Switch 2 on March 4, 2027.  

Kirby is setting off on a new adventure on the Nintendo Switch 2. Kirby and the World Beyond is a new Kirby game, with a free-roaming exploration set-up and a lot of mysteries to uncover next spring.

This new Kirby game was revealed as the one-last-thing for today’s Nintendo Direct, targeting a spring 2027 launch on the Nintendo Switch 2. The trailer starts out with Kirby exploring a world, doing very Kirby things: swallowing enemies, gaining powers, and being adorable.

But a crack in the blue sky reveals a Truman Show situation is at play, and Kirby is joined by a strange new floating friend in a quest to figure out what lies beyond this strange shell.

As confirmed in the Direct, this is a free-exploration Kirby game. The degree of openness of the world can’t be fully gleaned from today’s trailer, but considering Nintendo’s track record of creating open-world experiences for its various mascots — Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, and Karts — it makes sense that Kirby would be up next, especially with the 35th series anniversary next year.

We’ll have to keep an eye out for more, but I’m certainly intrigued in some more adventures with Nintendo’s beloved pink orb. Kirby and the World Beyond is set for a spring 2027 window.