Back in 2016 Nintendo unveiled a little game for the 3DS based around the Pikmin franchise, at the time we were given no name but were shown an entirely new direction for the series. During the recent Nintendo Direct Pikmin finally showed its face again this time receiving a release date as well as a proper name in the form of Hey! Pikmin.
But the question remains who was developing this 2D sidescroller edition in the Pikmin franchise? Most suggested that this was Nintendo’s internal teams, but a classification for the game in Australia has instead revealed that the game is being handled by Arzest.
For those unaware, Arzest is an independent developer with a history of work with Nintendo and the 3DS. The company was responsible for the 3DS version of Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, they also developed Yoshi’s New Island. What is notable however, is that neither game have seen a great response from critics or consumers. Hopefully this is not a bad sign for the upcoming Hey! Pikmin.
This discovery of the developer does give Pikmin fans some room to hope that the next major instalment of the franchise is coming sooner rather then later with Arzest handling the spinoff.
Hey! Pikmin will arrive on July 28th, a new amiibo is also being released for the game available on the same day.
