At E3 2021, Nintendo hosted a jampacked Nintendo Direct presentation that made the company's plans for the rest of the year much clearer. As expected, Nintendo has an impressive slate of Nintendo Switch games on the horizon, ranging from exclusive titles to multiplatform games. Nintendo recently released a new graphic highlighting its upcoming Nintendo Switch games, including a few titles on deck for 2022, though the image has a glaring omission.
For the 2022 games, Nintendo has Splatoon 3, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Project Triangle Strategy, and Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope listed. Conspicuous by its absence is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, which was confirmed for a 2022 release during the Nintendo Direct presentation. Some fans may be worried that this means Nintendo isn't confident that Breath of the Wild 2 will launch in 2022 as advertised, but there's no need to panic just yet.
The more likely explanation as to why Nintendo left The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 off the graphic is due to the game's title. As it stands, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has no official title, simply referred to by Nintendo as a Breath of the Wild sequel. Nintendo has said that it would be "spoilers" to reveal The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 title just yet, which could be why it's not shown in the image as a 2022 game.
The small text below the graphic mentions that the listed titles are "just some of the games" coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2021 and 2022. So fans read in-between the lines as to what this means for some of their anticipated games should stay calm for now. After all, Nintendo has yet to really finalize its 2022 release plans, and is clearly focused on promoting games for the 2021 holiday season.
Other high profile Nintendo Switch games that aren't included in the graphic are Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4. It's been years since fans have seen Bayonetta 3, to the point where some are worried that the game is going through a tumultuous development. Nintendo has insisted that Bayonetta 3 development is going fine, so its absence from the list doesn't mean anything in regards to its potential 2022 release date.
Metroid Prime 4, on the other hand, is a completely different story. Metroid Prime 4 development rebooted with Retro Studios just a couple of years ago, and so it seems highly unlikely that the game will be out in 2022. A more likely scenario is that it will be a 2023 game, but like Bayonetta 3, it too hasn't been seen in years, so fans will just have to standby for more information.
