Following late yesterday from redfall and starfield, Microsoft’s two big blockbusters for the year, the release list for the second half of 2022 seems particularly sparse. Pop Quiz: Have you paid attention to the Switch?
Continue reading: So much for video game release dates
As my colleague Ethan Gach already pointed out in Februarythe Switch has long been poised to have a solid 2022. In the intervening months, Nintendo has only cemented the console’s promising position, despite some notably delayed release dates.
Nintendo has had a pretty rocking year so far. It started in 2022 with Pokémon Legends: Arceusa Pokemon Spin-off so popular it rivals Freakin’ toe-to-toe elden ring in terms of sales. Square Enix was released in February triangle strategy, a gorgeously stylish tactics game exclusive to Switch. March saw the release of Nintendo’s own Kirby and the forgotten landWhich my box has already considered one of the best games of the year. Then followed in April switch sportsa revival of perhaps the single biggest trend dominating modern gaming (cough Wii sports).
The series continues next month with the release of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopesa musou game about teenagers who love to smash kites, and Mario Strikers: Battle League, which will be the first game in two years that actually makes football look cool. I’m sorry, Captain Tsubasa, but most of your friends are idiots.
Six hot-ticket exclusives are usually strong enough to anchor a major platform for the year, but Nintendo has more in store. The rollplay Xenoblade Chronicles 3initially planned for September, the release date has been pushed back high through July 29 – an infinitely rare event that suggests the game is in pretty solid shape. turn 3perhaps the sunniest view of a post-apocalyptic future, follows September 9th. (Regarding smaller games, the “HD-2D” live one life Remake is also planned for July.)
There are also a number of major games slated for 2022 that have no release dates yet. Ubisoft recently promised the tactical crossover event Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope by the end of the publisher’s fiscal year, which is expected to end next April. (spark of hope was previously given a 2022 release date.) Platinum’s bayonet 3 will set social media on fire when it actually hits its projected 2022 window. Pokemon scarlet and violet Versions also slated for 2022 also have no firm release dates. Historically, however, mainline Pokemon Games come out in November. With starfield out of the way, nothing occupies the traditionally most coveted release slot. If Pokemon comes out this month, you better bet it’ll be the biggest game of the holiday season.
The ever-changing release calendar is both to be expected and entirely understandable as developers come to terms with the downstream effects of working in a damn pandemic. Most of the big games this year, from those already released (Horizon forbidden west, elden ring) to the coming (God of War Ragnarok, Gotham Knights, Marvel’s Midnight Sun) were hit by some kind of delay.
Nintendo is no stranger to such delays either, recently pushed whatever we call the sequel The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to 2023. So, yes, any of the company’s upcoming games could be postponed; those without release dates inked are even less secure. But if those pieces fit together as planned, my Switch — not my Xbox or PS5 — will get most of the gameplay this year.
