Nintendo has announced a new Star Fox game for Nintendo Switch 2, revealed during a surprise Nintendo Direct on May 6, 2026 – marking the franchise’s first new release in a decade, as Polygon reported. The game is a major graphical remake of Star Fox 64, the beloved 1997 Nintendo 64 rail shooter, and launches exclusively on Switch 2 on June 25.
The announcement was made by Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Yoshiaki Koizumi, who described the new title as staying close to Star Fox 64’s branching routes and core gameplay while delivering a substantial visual overhaul and entirely new cutscenes. Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, and Falco Lombardi all return, rendered in a more realistic, animal-like style than any previous entry. Multiplayer is a clear focus: the game features 4v4 online dogfights in a new Battle Mode, local play for up to four players via GameShare, and a cooperative mode where one player pilots the Arwing while a second handles gunner duties using Joy-Con 2 mouse controls – a genuinely clever use of the hardware. Kotaku reported the game is priced at $50 digital and $60 physical, with development handled by Nintendo EPD and multiplayer netcode support from Bandai Namco Studios.
The last mainline Star Fox release was Star Fox Zero in 2016 for Wii U – a game that, to put it charitably, did not set the world on fire. The franchise has been dormant ever since, which makes this revival a meaningful moment for Nintendo’s first-party Switch 2 slate. If you want to see where Star Fox slots into the bigger picture, our complete list of Switch 2 games in 2026 has the full lineup. Nintendo isn’t the only publisher leaning into dormant IP right now – it’s a broader industry trend, and one worth watching.
The announcement didn’t come entirely out of nowhere. Leaker NatetheHate had already revealed the existence of a “classic-style Star Fox game” before Nintendo’s own timetable, and Fox McCloud himself appeared – voiced by Glen Powell – in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie back in April, which in retrospect was about as subtle a marketing tease as a barrel roll through a billboard. A Nintendo Treehouse livestream on May 14 will show off 30 minutes of single-player and online gameplay, with pre-orders opening May 20.
Are you a returning Star Fox fan who has been waiting since 2016, or does the remake format give you pause? Let us know in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more breaking gaming news and Star Fox coverage.
