Nintendo has officially confirmed that the long-awaited Pikmin 4 is currently in development and will launch sometime in 2023. Designer Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed the game during the September 13, 2022, Nintendo Direct, which only showed a brief teaser trailer, one still frame, and no gameplay shown.
What We Know About Pikmin 4
Miyamoto briefly touched on the development of Pikmin 4 on September 13, 2022, Nintendo Direct, mentioning that the game will be launched next year and that gameplay could not be shown at this time. The teaser trailer was shown from the perspective of the Pikmin in the game, which seems to be a staple feature.
“Nintendo Switch has made controlling the game simpler, meaning you can concentrate on the core essence of Pikmin gameplay,” Miyamoto said in the presentation. “We call it dandori in Japanese, or strategically planning, deploying, and commanding the Pikmin.”
Nintendo promised that more details will be coming next year as we approach the launch.
The game will be a direct follow-up to Pikmin 3, which was released in 2013 for the Wii U and was the last main entry in the series. Since then, Nintendo also published Hey! Pikmin for Nintendo 3DS in 2017, a sort of standalone sequel that may or may not have ties to Pikmin 4, re-released a deluxe version of Pikmin 3 for the Switch and released the mobile game, Pikmin Bloom, with Pokémon Go developer Niantic back in 2021.
Pikmin Bloom is an augmented reality mobile game similar to Pokémon Go that allows players to “Grow your Pikmin, make flowers bloom, and keep track of your most precious memories, all through the simple act of walking.” It can be downloaded now from Google Play and the App Store, and Miyamoto showed off some of the ways in which it encourages players to walk around their area to look for and grow Pikmin during the presentation.