Mario is sure to be busy in 2021 as a new rumor suggests a new Mario sports title is currently in development and slated to be released next year.
Revealed by Zippo, a vetted insider on the Resetera forums who has leaked Smash Bros. game details in the past, the new title is said to be developed by Camelot, the developer responsible for the 2018 hit Mario Tennis Aces.
Camelot has worked on several sports titles for Nintendo in the past, all featuring the Mushroom kingdom. Since the original Mario Golf on the N64, Camelot has developed over 14 Mario sports games on every major Nintendo platform, so the news of a possible new game for the Switch comes at no surprise. It's worth noting that Nintendo has not commented on the rumor nor has it officially announced anything yet.
Since the release of Mario Tennis Aces, Camelot has remained quiet on what the developer's next project would be. Camelot has released several smaller DLCs for Mario Tennis Aces in the form of extra characters and costumes with the final DLC releasing in the summer of 2019 and featuring the addition of Dry Bowser, but otherwise has not released anything new. Though the Nintendo Switch has received multiple Mario-focused titles, a golf game has not been released as of yet, so the announcement of a new Mario Golf from Camelot would not be surprising.
The Mario franchise recently celebrated 35 years with Nintendo releasing multiple games celebrating the long tenor. Both Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. 35 were part of a Mario-focused Direct that also featured the announcement of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury coming in February of 2021.
The celebration came with a few caveats, however, as Super Mario Bros 35 and 3D All-Stars will only be available for a limited time with both games their runs in March 2021. In addition, Nintendo recently announced that servers for Super Mario Maker on the Wii U will also end in March, marking it a particularly, tough upcoming month for the plumber.
It may not all be bad news, as Super Mario 3D All-Stars has sold incredibly well for Nintendo both physically and digitally. This could mean that Nintendo is more willing to bring older games such as Super Mario Galaxy 2 to the platform, a game oddly missing out on the collection. That along with the rumored Mario sports game could mean Mario fans will have a lot to do in 2021.
Source: ComicBook.com