If recent — and, let’s be honest, continuous — reports are to be believed (spoiler: they are!), the Nintendo Switch is flying high with top sales, a favorable opinion from critics and consumers alike and a slew of new first-party games coming down the green pipe in 2019. It’s simple to put the Nintendo Switch on a pedestal compared to the Wii U (we even did it in our slug line), but the true power of the console-meets-handheld is in its steady stream of first-party games released since its launch; a promise made to those disenchanted by the drought the previous console faced.
With news of Metroid Prime 4’s development restarting, fans were left wondering if there would be a hole left in 2019’s release schedule — especially with the rumored November release date for Samus’ latest adventure. At the end of January, Nintendo released their latest financial report, confirming release windows for many anticipated fans.
Before we begin speculating what “2019” means to the gaming giant, Yoshi’s Crafted World is still being released on March 29, 2019.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Spring 2019
“Spring 2019” is a pretty well-defined release window, so the speculation isn’t going to be that out there. Given Yoshi’s next outing coming at the end of March, we think that Fire Emblem: Three Houses will drop at the end of May.
DAEMON X MACHINA – 2019
A surprise way to open the Nintendo Direct at last year’s E3, DAEMON X MACHINA’s announcement trailer came out of nowhere. A wild card for Nintendo, we’d think this is a safe summer bet — with a small showing at E3 2019.
Animal Crossing – 2019
Fans have been asking for a proper game in the Animal Crossing series for a long time (read: YEEEEARS!) and were surprised by the surprise reveal that a game was coming in 2019. As a major release for Nintendo, we’re sure that the E3 booth will be decked out in the theme to end all themes, gearing up for what we assume is a late August release.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 2019
This should be a no-brainer, but an October release is what we see in the cards. Nintendo released the less-than-spooky Super Mario Party last October (to critical success), so having a more holiday-appropriate release would be ideal.
Pokémon RPG – Late 2019
The Pokémon series does a decent job of consistently releasing in the fall, so a late November (to fill the potential Metroid void) or December release (just in time for the holidays) seems like the sweet spot to ensure the blockbuster success of Pikachu’s next adventure.
Bayonetta 3 – TBA
The details of Bayonetta’s next trip between worlds have been pretty non-existent since the game was revealed at The Game Awards 2017. With the release of the ported Bayonetta 1 & 2 games almost a year old, we think we’ll get another look at the gun-wielding witch and a promise of a February 2020 release.
Honorable Mention – Town
Game Freak’s Town (working title) was attached to a 2019 release window during Nintendo’s E3 2018 presentation. Little else about the game has been stared, but we wouldn’t mind seeing this adorable RPG slide right into a September 2019 release.
Do you think our forecast is accurate? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
