Highlights
- Fitness Boxing, a popular Nintendo Switch exclusive, has been removed from the Switch's eShop and will be removed from the Nintendo store entirely on November 30.
- The exact reason for its removal is unknown, but it could be due to server costs or expired licenses for the music used in the game.
- The two sequels, Fitness Boxing 2 and Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star, are likely to stick around for a while.
A popular Nintendo Switch exclusive, Fitness Boxing, is set to be removed from the Switch's eShop. This comes pretty soon after Fitness Boxing became a trilogy.
Developed by Imagineer, Fitness Boxing has become a million-seller ever since its drop in late 2018 in most territories, with an American release just months later. All three games center around the player using their Joy-Cons as boxing gloves, boxing to the rhythm of popular upbeat music and shooting for a high score as they follow the lead of a chosen, customizable trainer and burn calories in the process. While it didn't blow up as much as the Wii Fit series in terms of popularity, the game did well enough to warrant a sequel, Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm and Exercise which went on to sell quite a lot of units as well, and even a crossover with popular anime Fist of the North Star that released this year.
As recently announced by Nintendo, it has delisted the first Fitness Boxing from the Switch eShop, and it will be removing the game from the store completely on November 30 of this year. The exact reason was not provided for this, but usually the most common reasons behind such a surprise move are either due to server costs or the expiration of licenses. Considering how many popular songs are utilized across this trilogy, the latter does make a degree of since. Curiously, this announcement only applied to Japan and European territories, with no mention of the Americas, although that little detail should be taken with a heap of salt.
No word has been given regarding the future of the two Fitness Boxing sequels. Considering Fitness Boxing 2 received surprise DLC as recently as 2023, and Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star is only six months old, those two installments have good odds of sticking around a good ways into the future. But as for the first game, anyone who's skipped over it and is even mildly curious should strive to pick it up by any means before the tail end of November.
It's never fun to hear that a game one enjoys will soon leave the market, and Nintendo fans have had to go through this cycle of grief numerous times in recent years. Fortunately, while physical retail copies of Fitness Boxing will soon no longer be in print, the remaining unsold ones are likely to remain in stores for a good while until they run out. Such a fate is certainly a little better than other games that came to a similar end.
Fitness Boxing is available on Nintendo Switch.
Source: ComicBook
