Nintendo has all kinds of games in the pipeline, but they don’t always release them as soon as they’re finished.
We’ve seen this happen during the Switch generation with series like Pikmin and Metroid Prime, and it seems like another game the company may have been sitting on for a while is the recent release of Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood.
As he pointed out ‘pierre485’ on Bluesky (via GoNintendo)this new entry – which was originally revealed to the world in June 2024 – has apparently been rated by Germany’s USK rating board “301 days” before it was actually published.
“Some interesting facts about recently released Nintendo titles (USK): Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood was rated 301 days before release, the longest for an original Nintendo title since FE Engage (which was rated 515 days before release) *USK is a German rating board”
Again, Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood isn’t necessarily an isolated case here based on some of Nintendo’s previous releases.
Looking ahead, Nintendo has already locked down multiple first-party releases for next year, including Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, Pokémon Legends: ZA, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
2025 is also rumored to rely heavily on third parties to help fill gaps in the Switch’s calendar as it prepares to launch the system’s successor.
