
After the bonkers bonanza of Game of the Year and holidays and wrapping up everything in a neat little bow that happens at the end of every year, the slate is finally wiped clean for 2023. This is, arguably, one of the most exciting times in gaming — when the year is fresh and unblemished like newly-fallen snow, and we can dream of what might happen next.
Here at Nintendo Life, we don't have a crystal ball, but we do have many years of experience, and that's better than nothing when it comes to predicting what's next for Nintendo, indies, and the dear ol' Switch. And fear not, we (mostly) won't be mentioning the existence or non-existence of the Sw*tch P*o in here — no hardware, only software!

Our predictions for gaming in 2023
Without any further ado, let's jump in to this new year with both feet, and hope that we land on something soft and squishy like, er, a new Mario game or something. Let's-a-go!
Releases
KATE: I think it's going to be a busy year, with things hopefully picking up momentum after two years of pandemic-related delays. We've already got a packed January, and that's usually one of the quieter months, although I wonder if we're going to have a sort of "eye of the storm" dead zone around Zelda. I don't envy anyone who tries to release a game in May...
OLLIE: I agree that it's going to be another busy year, though I'm not sure that we're going to see a repeat of 2017 in terms of serious big-hitters. We've got Zelda arriving in May, of course, but anyone expecting a new Mario or Metroid game in 2023 might want to rein in their expectations slightly. I'm hesitant to broach the subject on a Switch successor, but I've a feeling Nintendo is going to want to hold onto some of its best titles this year in favour of launching with the new system.
ALANA: Like both Ollie and Kate, I also think 2023 is going to be a busy year! February is already pretty crazy for me personally, and while April looks very empty now (prepping for the big TOTK), I'm sure we'll have a Direct in the first quarter to pad things out. I think Pikmin 4 will hit late summer or in September, and we'll also have some Pokémon Scarlet & Violet DLC (which will get announced in February) and the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 story DLC to keep us busy over the summer months too.
JIM: How I would love to sneak in here and say "I actually don't think 2023 is going to be all that busy" just to play devil's advocate. But the truth is, I also think it is going to be weirdly stacked. There are a number of Nintendo big boys which we know are already set for the year (maybe Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp will fall in there too??) but I also think this is going to be a big one for announcements. I'm guessing that we are going to get word of a new console and Mario game towards the end of the year, teeing up for an equally big 2024.
GAVIN: Nintendo will be leaning into Zelda in a big way (of course), and I don't imagine we're going to see too many megaton first-party releases in 2023. It's easy to imagine an internal shift of focus to new hardware on the horizon (next year, for my money), and whatever form it takes, the company will want a steady monthly stream of games lined up for the launch period, as it did with Switch. With everyone else and their dog releasing games on the system, though, we won't be short of brilliant things to play.
Surprises
KATE: Hard to predict surprises, but I would put money on a few Nintendo Directs this year with some large surprises, including potentially a Hollow Knight: Silksong stealth drop, a new 3D Mario, and, er... Metroid Prime 4? I'm personally hyped to find out what indies will take the world by storm this year, because most indies can afford to be extra cagey and secretive without everyone's eyes on them. I predict at least one incredible narrative game that tells a story in a fascinating way, a puzzle game that everyone loves, a sequel to a game that no one thought would get one (like Fantasy Life), and something new from Obra Dinn and Papers, Please maestro, Lucas Pope.
OLLIE: Rather than predict surprises and wind up looking like a plonker for getting everything wrong, I feel a lot more comfortable putting across what I'd like to happen this year. The big one for me is stronger support for Nintendo Switch Online: we've got NES, SNES, N64, and Genesis, but I really think it's time for the Game Boy or Game Boy Advance to get some love. I'd like GameCube as well, of course, but I suspect that Nintendo would rather lean into individual remasters of GameCube titles rather than whacking them all onto a subscription service. How about that Metroid Prime remaster, Nintendo..?
ALANA: So we're getting Silksong before July. Whether that's April or June (please don't be May), I wouldn't call it yet. But I always find Nintendo surprises difficult to predict. Perhaps we'll finally Get Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on Switch to warm us up before TOTK? The Metroid Prime remaster will finally come out? Otherwise, I think we'll get some unexpected ports. Outer Wilds has been promised for a while, but perhaps we'll get a Yakuza game.
JIM: It wouldn't really be a year of Nintendo predictions without one of us throwing out the old "Zelda blowout" chestnut, now would it? Much like Alana, I wonder whether this will be the year that the Big-N goes all kind of crazy and releases three Zelda titles in the space of 12 months - hey, stranger things have happened! In terms of a surprise, though, I would really like to see news of a new Metroid title from MercurySteam. After the brilliance of Dread, how great would it be to see something else on the horizon?
GAVIN: I saw a tweet the other day wondering where the Detective Pikachu Switch port has gotten to. That seems like just the right calibre of pleasant, non-surprising surprise for this year. I never played the original and would definitely welcome that.
Games of the Year (that aren't Zelda)
KATE: Zelda's too easy, innit? My personal GOTYs are likely to include Demonschool, The Plucky Squire, Fae Farm, Storyteller, Outer Wilds if it finally comes out, and maybe even Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life if it captures the charm of the original. However, I'm ready for something to surprise me in the latter half of the year — it probably hasn't even been announced yet, whatever it is.
OLLIE: This is a tough one, since we don't really know half of what's slated for this year. I reckon Pikmin 4 is going to be a big critical hit, even if it's unlikely to be a commercial one. Octopath Traveler II could well be another great title from Square Enix, but whether it'll be a GOTY contender is another story. This is a hard one!
ALANA: TOTK really is Nintendo's GOTY bet this year, and it along with Starfield, Spider-Man 2, and Final Fantasy XVI are honestly all probably locked in — unless they're terrible. But outside of The Game Awards, and sticking to Switch, Sea Of Stars could absolutely be up there if it's as good as it looks. So will Silksong if it's anywhere near as amazing as Hollow Knight is. It'll be a much more varied year with a wide spread of GOTY contenders, I think. I'm excited to be surprised by something.
JIM: I have to agree with Alana that Sea of Stars is a sure-fire winner for prettiest game of the year and I am quietly hopeful that it will have the gameplay to boot. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of the top games on Switch in my view, and Engage stands a very good chance of carrying this on given the huge amount of promo that Nintendo is churning out for it. Much like Kate, though, I am always hoping for a late-year hit. Perhaps a post-TOTK palate cleanser is precisely what we will all need.
GAVIN: Sea Of Stars, with any luck. That looks phenomenal.
Response to Zelda: TOTK
KATE: Gotta be honest... I'm a little nervous! It's not like Nintendo has ever made a totally duff Zelda game (in-house, at least), but setting up a new game as a sequel to one of the most beloved video games of all time is a monumental task. The question on everyone's lips is, "will it match up"? With how much they're reusing the map, I sincerely hope it does, but we really don't know enough to say for sure, yet, since Nintendo's been awful cagey with the details. I think scores will be high, probably in the low 90s, but potentially we could see some disappointment in the game all the same.
OLLIE: I've no doubt that Tears of the Kingdom will be an incredible game (because it kind of has to be), but I don't think it will have the same kind of impact that Breath of the Wild had back in 2017; that's sort of the nature of direct sequels, right? Best case scenario is that TOTK is compared to BOTW in a similar way that Majora's Mask is compared to Ocarina of Time: some like it more, some think it's just fine, but most can agree that it's a sequel well worth playing.
Oh God, what if it's bad, though..?
ALANA: I either adore a Zelda game or I just can't click with it, but BOTW is my favourite in the series. So I can't imagine disliking TOTK. But I want to know what makes this one different. In the same way that A Link Between Worlds is to A Link to the Past, TOTK has to have something that really sets it apart from just the huge open world. We've seen that things will be more vertical, but will it be creepier? Will there be dungeons? Who knows! But the hype has been so high that I can see some being disappointed with what we get. However you feel about it though, a new Zelda game is always an exciting time.
JIM: MJ's line from Spider-Man: No Way Home rings through my mind whenever I think about this game (which, admittedly, is a lot): "expect disappointment and you will never be disappointed". Do I actually think that TOTK will be disappointing? No way. Being the huge Zelda boi that I am, I find it difficult to believe that I will feel anything other than love. This being said, I am ready for the experience to be 'BOTW with different colours'. Is it still likely to be my GOTY? Definitely. But I'm not expecting this one to reinvent the wheel.
GAVIN: Expectations are always impossibly high with these franchise sequels... and then Nintendo goes and produces a Galaxy 2 or a Mario Odyssey or, yep, a Breath of the Wild. Even the worst Zeldas are still pretty great video games and I've found that with age comes the ability to appreciate the good stuff and just leave the rest without dwelling on it and becoming utterly furious. That said, TOTK is my most anticipated game of the last decade and if any developer has proven it's able to surpass the most unrealistic of expectations, it's Nintendo. It's going to be a fun year.
And there we have it — some incredibly tentative predictions and hopes for 2023. Hey, we don't want to be the ones eating our hats when we're inevitably proved wrong — and Nintendo's hard to predict!
But what do you think will be the most surprising, long-awaited, or beloved game of the year? And when do you think we'll get our first Direct? Give us your predictions in the comments — but whatever you do, don't mention the Sw*tch P*o.
Comments 36
Guilty Gear Strive and Vampire Survivors for Switch are at the top of my Switch-predictions.
Definitely looking forward to the new Zelda. Can’t imagine anything dethroning it this year. Really hope the long needed spec boost for the switch arrives soon. Really only looking forward to Silksong beyond Zelda. I hope we get an unexpected surprise this year that we could really use. I love getting things I didn’t know I wanted. But It’d be nice to finally get something we all want. Seems like Nintendo hasn’t provided the latter in quite a long time.
@Magician Oh god, I hope you're right about Strive.
I expect we’ll get something kinda surprising from SquareEnix for the Switch…. Though not really sure what!
So bummed they remade mario and luigi: bowser’s inside story for the 3ds because that’s what id be asking for on the switch 🤷
Hopefully Nintendo will expand the range of games available with the Switch Online Expansion
Id do anything for Bethesda to port a fallout game to switch.
Doubt Hollow Knight Silksong gets shadow dropped on Switch when it's launching straight into Game Pass.
I'll keep my expectations fairly low and say I'm just predicting ScarVio DLC, probably Advance Wars at some point, and maybe a new hardware announcement towards the end.
Just throwing Mina the Hollower into the mix as something worth looking forward to, though I don’t know if it’s out this year. Oh, and the return of Suikoden. But I think we need a Direct in February to stave off the growing sense of doom and decline that is being linked to the Switch (not that I agree with it).
Switch has so much life in it yet! I can't keep up... even if I was a 24/7 gamer it would be impossible even if you cut out all the low grade trash. The great games alone will take more a few more years before I'd consider a new system of any kind.
Im in the camp of next generation is next year so likely no massive new 3D Mario or Pokemon this year but I do think we get
1) new 2D Mario
2) Arms sequel
3) Metroid Prime Trilogy HD
4) Animal Crossing spin off
5) new Star Fox
6) F-Zero GX HD
7) new Mario Sluggers
I've seen a number of people say to not expect a new Mario game in the near future. The thing these people forget is that there is a major Super Mario movie coming to theaters in March/April. Do you really expect Nintendo to leave all that money on the table?
Millions of families are going to walk out of the theater thinking, "Wow! I really enjoyed that Mario movie. I wonder if there's any way to continue this excitement and keep this Mario train rolling..." You really think Nintendo won't have something new available and ready to capitalize on that interest? They'd be certifiably insane not to.
Even Sony and Naughty Dog went ahead and remade "The Last of Us Part 1," when they didn't really need to, just to capitalize on the interest generated from the HBO show. Do you really think Nintendo has nothing new for Mario in store?
You heard it here first. In the February Direct Nintendo will announce updated Switch hardware (Switch Pro, Super Switch, whatever) to be released in May along with the new Zelda and a new Mario game.
And Digital Foundry was right. There were plans for an updated Switch. What Digital Foundry couldn't figure out is why the plans were scrapped. They were scrapped because Nintendo got wind of the Steam Deck and wanted to see what it was capable of. Now that they had actual competition, they had to go back to the drawing board and adjust their plans.
@cammers1995 I've been wanting that since 2017!
@CazSonOfCaz updated hardware isn't happening in 2023. It would have absolutely leaked by now. It's all just speculation, especially with that leaked TOTK Switch.
2023 will be a bigger Switch year than 2022. It’ll be no dry spell. Tears will dominate but there’ll be other notable Nintendo games. It’s already off to a good start. There’ll be no new Switch hardware.
My biggest Nintendo game prediction is a new 2D Mario game. There’ll be a new Mario Sports game as well considering the annual trend in recent years. It’ll likely be Baseball. A Kid Icarus Uprising remake is pretty likely and it’ll either launch this year or slip into 2024. I want to say Donkey Kong is coming but now I’m not sure.
On the smaller side, there’ll be amiibo of Shiver, Frye, and Big Man from Splatoon 3 as well as Tears getting amiibo. NSO will get a huge retro boost. Super Smash Bros., Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Tooie, and Diddy Kong Racing should come over the course of the year. Game Boy collections should come this Autumn.
Nothing too crazy but I’m hopeful. If it all falls apart, at least I still have a little backlog to attend to, unless Splatoon 3 with its long catalogs and large-scale DLC keeps me hooked! No telling what the new story mode will be like.
As for Switch Online Expansion Pak, in addition to Game Boy and GBA, I hope an option to purchase the titles will also be added.
Considering that what I want from Zelda seems to be at odds with most of the gaming community at this point, I predict that either you guys will be disappointed with it or I will be. I'd like to think Aonuma and the team have the talent to make everyone happy, but it's been a good while since the Zeldas I really love released. As for anything else, unless they ran into some real snags somewhere along the line, I'm betting on Silksong being an absolute monster of a metroidvania. Hopefully, we'll get another Platinum collaboration announced some time after the Bayonetta spin-off is out, and if we're lucky, maybe we'll start seeing signs of new hardware before we hit 2024. I'm also really looking forward to the Xenoblade 3 DLC, though I'm hesitant about the implication that they're bringing back things from the previous games again. I'm still not quite happy with what they did to 1 in Definitive Edition, and even though Torna and 3 are both fantastic on their own, they somehow both managed to retroactively make 2's already comically bad story even worse, so I'm flat out ready to never hear about that one again.
My 2023 predictions for Nintendo;
-TOTK to have one final delay to September where it will release alongside it's OLED special edition. I believe it's reception will be similar to Majora's Mask or Fallout New Vegas, the general opinion at launch will be that it wasn't as good as the last one but after a few years opinions will flip and will be loved more than BOTW.
-I also believe there will be amiibo based on Links new Arm which shall be mine!
-Silksong will also miss it's 12 months after Xbox conference mark and release November.
-Pikmin 4 will be a early 2024 game (I know.... I foresee a lot of delays!) But I also feel like this game will drastically simplify the game, leaving long time fans conflicted!
-Pokemon S/V will get two expansions. Neither of which will bad but neither brilliant.
-Xenoblades Story expansion will launch and I will complain I don't have enough time for all this and that I haven't finished the base game yet but I'll get it anyways.
-Persona 6 will finally be announced (Not launch) for multiple platforms including Switch!
-Nier Replicant port will be announced.
-The first big direct will be in April!
I will thinking about :
I think I’m ready for the new Mario game. But what I really miss is a new entry in Style Savvy Boutique Fashion Forward Girls franchise. They are the best.
Fire Emblem, Kirby, and Zelda are enough to make the first half of the year a banger. Anything else Nintendo announces will just be a bonus.
For the second half, I’m expecting Pikmin 4 and a few smaller things… like maybe a new Mario Party, Mario Baseball, another basic 2D Pokémon by ILCA, who knows haha. Metroid Prime 4 I’m hoping is the big holiday title.
Edit: Hopefully Advance Wars sneaks in the year!
I don’t think Nintendo could go wrong with GameBoy games for NSO. That’s a much beloved console. Would be good to kick things off with Goldeneye N64, hopefully this month.
As for new games that aren’t Zelda, maybe there could be a new 3D Mario. Donkey Kong has been absent for a while. There could be a third 2D game with a port of Wii DKC returns so the trilogy can be owned on Switch. Unless a 3D platformer is realised again for Donkey Kong.
Given the fact that the Super Mario Movie releases this year I'd be absolutely amazed if we don't get a new Mario game to compliment it (although probably later in the year of course)
We're definitely due a new one. I'd prefer a 3D one but would happily take a 2D one if offered
I have, at least three times now, forgotten and remembered that there was an Advance Wars game that was supposed to release.
Maybe this is the year, hell, if we have to wait any longer they may as well add the third one to that re-release while they're at it...
@mr_somewhere as long as Russians are killing Ukrainians and destroying their homes Nintendo will not release Advance Wars which is stupid but its Nintendo
I predict Nintendo and third parties will release many quality games for switch in 2023!
Am I really the only person that thinks Advance Wars looks pretty awful and generic?
totk would not have won game of the year if it was released in 2022
@Nf157 doubt persona 6 will ever be on the switch by the time it is released a switch 2 will come out
In spite of Dread's success, the fact that we've gone from a Metroid Prime Trilogy remaster to a Metroid Prime remaster is a sad situation....but the general fanbase seems perfectly fine with getting that kind of release and maybe they don't know what Nintendo did in 2009 and on the Wii U eShop in 2015. We're seeing Prime 4 this year though in the first general Direct following the release of TOTK, which probably is hopefully the one for E3 time.
I no longer care to buy and play Re-Boot Camp, but I am curious to see if Nintendo finally does release the game and do so before E3. I originally was going to get Re-Boot Camp and it would've been my introduction into Advance Wars. When they delayed, I bought the originals off of the Wii U eShop instead.
The amount of classic rpg bundles and collections I wouldn't be surprised for morrowind/oblivion or Fallout 3/ NV collections
@johnedwin switch 2 will likely be out by the time persona 6 launches but this is atlus. Persona 5 was meant to be a PS3 exclusive in 2017.... The PS4 came out in 2013. They've done similar things with other games too.
Too me that's not such a bad thing as their games are hardly tech pushers.
@cammers1995 I've wanted a fallout 3/New Vegas collection for switch since the beginning or hell even fallout 4. But at this point I'm guessing it ain't happening.
Such high expectations for Zelda from the NL crew!
My predictions are -
Another amazing Zelda game added to the collection
A game to run alongside the movie, but I don't think it will be Mario, more likely based on Toads.
Pikmin 4, at last
A sprinkling of games some people want and some they don't want added to the online
The release of Advanced Wars will fill a hole at some point of the year.
Suspect at least 1 or 2 games we haven't heard about, Donkey Kong / Kirby / etc
A new non mainline pokemon game
I would really really like to add Metroid 4 to this list but I do feel that within the next 2 years we will get a new console from Nintendo. I think it will later rather than early, but if it is this year we will hear about it soon. As Nintendo always like a good christmas period, so the console released a while before christmas or not talked about until after it.
I’d like to see an LCD XL Switch (7” size screen, no oled), you know like they did with the 2ds XL. Gameplay first, bells, whistles, and headaches irrelevant.
I wouldn’t be surprised if another retro Pokémon game emerges with a shiny coat of paint. If so, I’d love to see a modern reboot of SoulSilver/HeartGold complete with a pokewalker.
Also still desperately waiting for a Style Savvy game on switch, as well as a new Tomodachi Life.
Nintendogs would be great too.
I’m slightly looking forward to the new Kirby game next month. Much more excited for the Story of Seasons A Wonderful Life coming this summer. That game when it was on GameCube was one of my all time favorites. (My other two favorites are Grand Bazaar (DS) and Magical Melody (GameCube).
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