Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Nintendo has shifted to an interesting strategy for announcing its upcoming releases. The popular developer premiered Pikmin 3 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch today over Twitter, with a release date set for October 30. This is the second time this year that a previously unannounced Switch title has been revealed via social media and released just a few months later, as Paper Mario: The Origami King got its first trailer on Twitter in May before coming out in July.
The Origami King was met with mixed results because of a core fanbase divided over the series' shift from role-playing games to an adventure style, now with puzzle-based combat. Pikmin 3 Deluxe had a more positive reception thanks to it being one of Nintendo's less-appreciated properties making the jump from its underselling Wii U onto the Switch. Despite some complaints about the anti-consumer practice of selling an older game for more money, the Wii U began trending on Twitter as many are excited to see Pikmin 3 get another chance. That begs the question: Is this short-term announcement strategy better for Nintendo than its typical long-term strategy, as seen with games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2?
Short-Term Announcements
If The Origami King and Pikmin 3 Deluxe have shown anything, it's how effective an announcement can be if it is withheld until everything is ready. Nintendo and other video game companies have a bad habit of showing off a game that is "in development" far too early, and needlessly stretching out any information. Breath of the Wild 2 was announced at E3 2019 and nothing official has been said about it since. Similar stories can be found with other industry giants like Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls 6 or the Fable reboot announced for Xbox Series X last month with a brief teaser.
There are also times when issues out of anyone's control affect a game's intended release schedule. Nintendo's Metroid Prime 4 had to restart development under Retro Studios because the company was unhappy with its progress, for example. Animal Crossing: New Horizons also had to be delayed before the end of 2019, yet that went on to be a smash hit for the Switch. All that being said, there is something incredibly gratifying for a company like Nintendo to premiere a game many are excited for, only to find out there is a release date right around the corner.
The issues inherent to stretching out an announcement schedule are not exclusive to major developers like Nintendo. During a recent interview with Game Rant, Finish Line Games Lead Designer Jason Canam said Skully had a "welcome and appropriate" short reveal-to-release window. The indie physics-based puzzle platformer was announced in May and released earlier this week, and Canam said he is much more concerned about titles winding up like The Elder Scrolls 6 that linger for months or years before anything concrete is revealed.
However, one big negative about games having a short-term announcement is the risk of fans feeling starved for information. Nintendo has come under fire as of late for foregoing its larger-scale Direct showcase videos while Sony and Microsoft host major events for their next-generation consoles. It is excusable given circumstances around COVID-19 have reportedly hit Nintendo hard, but before Pikmin 3 Deluxe was revealed today fans knew little about the company's end-of-year release schedule. This kind of silence also leads to raised expectations based on rumors, such as the Super Mario remasters reportedly coming for Mario's 35th anniversary.
Long-Term Announcements
As gratifying as a short reveal-to-release window can be, there is also something to be said the maintaining hype over an extended period of time. While many could look at Breath of the Wild 2 as a failure in this regard given how little Nintendo has shown, it's important to remember that the original game went through years of development hell before settling on a concurrent release for the Wii U and Nintendo Switch. Breath of the Wild was adored by many, which has led to fans and news sites wringing the sequel for everything it's worth.
In fact, many of Nintendo's properties are popular enough that fans will wait on their next installments, theorize about potential design elements, and eagerly take any scrap of information they can get. Titles like Metroid Prime 4 and Platinum Games' Bayonetta 3 have had overwhelmingly silent development cycles, but almost any official social media post or video put out by Nintendo will have tons of comments asking about their progress. That isn't to say this behavior is always warranted or encouraging a healthy discourse, but it does show that people who care are in it for the long-haul.
Another benefit to long-term announcements is how a company can space out new details. An enhanced port like Pikmin 3 Deluxe inherently draws in less attention than a brand-new game like Pikmin 4 would have, but even so it could benefit from more marketing time. If Nintendo had announced the port earlier this year and followed up with information about its added features, such as new difficulty modes and side missions starring Olimar and Louie, the Internet could have been buzzing about the game for much longer.
There's a fine line when it comes to announcing a new game. If it is revealed too soon before release, the game may not get as much attention as it deserves. If it is revealed too long before release, the game may succumb to its lingering hype and garner less interest upon release. Whether intentionally or not, Nintendo is currently experimenting with both styles at the same time thanks to the belabored reveal of titles like Breath of the Wild 2 and the sudden reveals of The Origami King and Pikmin 3 Deluxe. It will be interesting to see how this affects their marketing strategies in the long-term.