Professor Layton and the New World of Steam was one of the biggest surprise announcements of 2023. While the return of Level-5's polite professor might have felt like a no-brainer to some, it appears that the studio was initially hesitant about a comeback. That is until certain big names in the industry started pushing for it (thanks, Automaton).
This is according to Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino who, in a recent Tokyo Game Show chat with Dragon Quest's Yuji Horii, confessed that the team was content to leave the Layton series alone after it had reached a "beautiful" conclusion.
However, Hino continues, certain figures "from the industry" pushed for another game, including a mysterious "Company 'N'" — now, who do we think that could be?
Let's remember that Nintendo was on publishing duties for all DS and 3DS Layton entries outside Japan, where the series became one of the consoles' most beloved exclusives. Of course, Hino isn't specifically saying it was the Big N pushing for another series entry (the elusive "Company N" could be another studio entirely), but we think it's a fair assumption to make.
You can find Hino's full quote (translated by Automaton) below:
Certain individual(s) from the industry really wanted us to release a new game…we had a strong push coming from company 'N'. When I heard these opinions, I started to think it would be good to make a new game so that fans could enjoy the series at the level of quality provided by the latest console
The Switch is already home to a Layton game of sorts, as Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy - Deluxe Edition got ported over back in 2019. A spin-off starring Layton's daughter (?), this one isn't commonly regarded amongst the series' best — even by Hino, it seems, if he wanted to have another stab at hitting "the level of quality provided by the latest console" with New World of Steam.
The next mainline entry is set to arrive on Switch at some point in 2025 and will see Layton and Luke reunited after the events of the third game in the series, The Lost Future.
We were lucky enough to go hands-on with New World of Steam at Tokyo Game Show this year, where we called the upcoming title "a return to form for the series". You can find our full preview coverage and a look at the latest trailer below.