The Pikmin franchise once started because of Shigeru Miyamoto’s love for gardening. The grandmaster wanted to create a new kind of tactical game, a game where small creatures would clean up your garden, in exchange for some energy. Years later, the Pikmin franchise includes some of the company’s most iconic characters and yet, there’s still no sign of Pikmin 4. Back in 2015, the game was first mentioned, so why aren’t we playing it? Well, the Nintendo Switch Light might be the answer.
Pikmin 4 got confirmed a long time ago
Back in 2015, Shigeru Miyamoto himself confirmed that Pikmin 4 was in development. He stated that the Pikmin team was hard at work on this sequel and they were making great progress. Two years later, during an interview with Eurogamer, he repeated this message. It’s no secret that the game is indeed in development but Miyamoto also said he couldn’t talk about it that much since his marketing team simply doesn’t allow him to share more details. So what’s taking so long? It’s been another two years and we still haven’t heard of this mysterious sequel. There are a few possible explanations, one of those is the Hey! Pikmin 3DS entry.
For those unaware, in 2017, Nintendo did release a new entry in the Pikmin franchise called Hey! Pikmin. This was a Nintendo 3DS exclusive and did things differently. Instead of offering you a semi-open world where you had to collect items using your different types of Pikmin, Hey! Pikmin simplified a lot of things. This was no longer a full-fledged 3D game but a side-scrolling platformer instead. It wasn’t the game we were hoping for but it still delivered a lot of fun gameplay elements, resulting in a very positive review back in the day. The problem, however, wasn’t the gameplay itself, it was the sales. Compared to the other million sellers of the franchise, this first portable version never succeeded to reach those same heights. Of course, you should never really take a spin-off into consideration for the existence of your main franchise but I’m guessing Nintendo is holding back a new entry until they are completely satisfied with it. One option might be that the team was forced to go back to the drawing board and change a couple of things, but then again, should it really take them that long? The answer might be closer than we think.
The Nintendo Switch Lite
As we all know by now, Nintendo is releasing a new Nintendo Switch model this September, a model that will focus on handheld gaming first. This is the perfect system for those who want to enjoy their Pokémon, Animal Crossing, and The Legend of Zelda on the go. When it comes to new hardware, Nintendo likes to push it as hard as possible. Releasing a steady stream of great games is the best way to do so and that’s something the company always has been well aware of. Releasing together with The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and a couple of months prior to the Pokémon Sword and Shield releases, Nintendo ensures their new fans they’ll be playing a lot of great games in the near future. But what’s next to come?
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is set to release this March so it seems there still are a couple of slots to fill. It would make perfect sense for Nintendo to squeeze in Pikmin 4. It’s a game a lot of fans have been waiting for and even for newcomers, this might become the perfect starting point. Judging by the tremendous success of the Nintendo Switch, it’s clear that the company wants to keep its momentum as long as possible; spreading big releases is one of the best ways to do so. We don’t know a lot of what will come to Switch in 2020 but with the release of a new model in September, it’s not a hard guess to say that we’ll see a lot of great new games during the first half of 2020. Judging on the portability of the Switch Lite, Pikmin 4 might be another great fit on the system. If you’re playing Pikmin, you’ll want to carry it around with you everywhere you go while manipulating your virtual environment with a touch of your finger. Pikmin 4 might be one of the best games to play in handheld mode while using the touchscreen. That’s why I think Nintendo held back its release in favor of the Nintendo Switch Lite. In order to keep the momentum high, they’ll need great new games and Pikmin 4 might easily become one of them.
Conclusion:
Of course, this is pure speculation and nothing is set in stone at this time but releasing Pikmin 4 close to the Nintendo Switch Lite release date would make perfect sense. It’s a great way for Nintendo to keep the console’s momentum as high as possible while at the same time serving thousands of fans who are waiting on this game for years. My bet is we’ll see Pikmin 4 releasing early 2020 but time will tell if it turns out to be the truth.
