Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was set to release this September, and was poised to help lead the Switch into gaming's stacked fall season. However, Nintendo has announced today that development is ahead of schedule, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will be coming out earlier than expected.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced earlier this year during the February Nintendo Direct. In the initial trailer, gamers got to see the new world that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 takes place in, and it seemed to feature a couple of callbacks to the first Xenoblade Chronicles, as well as Xenoblade Chronicles 2. A couple of characters seemed very familiar to Xenoblade Chronicles fans, which left some speculating on what the plot could be about.
In a new trailer, Nintendo and Monolith Soft showcased some of Xenoblade Chronicles 3's combat for the first time, as well as more of its story. Xenoblade Chronicles 3's parties look like they're going to be large, with seven party members at once shown at one point. Party members also look like they can fuse together to create some kind of mech suit in combat by sharing their souls with each other. At the end of the trailer, Nintendo posted a surprise release date of July 29th, 2022. This moves the game at least a month ahead of its previously stated release date of September 2022.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was initially leaked last year by one of the voice actors of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Ever since that leak, gamers were expecting an announcement on the series, especially since Xenoblade Chronicles has become one of Nintendo's big RPG franchises.
Even before this trailer, Xenoblade Chronicles fans were expecting some kind of news soon. A few days ago, key art for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was leaked as well as bios for some of the new characters. The key art was quickly removed after it had been discovered, but fans had already gotten a hold of it and rumors were swirling around what it had revealed about the game. These rumors have now been confirmed after this trailer.
With a much earlier release date, Xenoblade Chronicles fans have already made their pleasure well-known on social media. Games moving forward with their release dates don't happen often in this industry, and it could be possible Nintendo has something even bigger planned for the holiday season. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will add to Nintendo's already stacked summer, and Nintendo fans are sure to be happy with this unexpected announcement.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on July 29th, 2022.
