Nintendo held what was a surpsingly packed Direct for the original Switch today, even if most of the games it was packed with weren’t exactly blockbusters. The arrival of a brand new installment in the Everybody’s Golf series was pretty surprising, though.
Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots was saved for one of the Direct’s final announcements, and while it doesn’t have a firm release date, it will launch on Nintendo Switch at some point in 2025. Unsurprising with the Switch 2 about to take away the bulk of Nintendo’s attention. However, the reveal of an Everybody’s Golf during a Direct was particularly surprising since the series is owned by Sony.
It’s unclear at present if Hot Shots will be coming to other platforms, although since the series is typically published by Sony, it seems likely it will also launch on PS5 at the very least. It wasn’t the only series typically associated with PlayStation revealed to be coming to Nintendo Switch this year as Patapon 1 + 2 will also launch on the platform this year.
While many might not view the announcement of an Everybody’s Golf game on Switch being that big a deal, despite Bandai Namco seemingly being involved in making it happen, it could be an indicator that the relationship between the two companies is getting stronger. A relationship that was reginited by the launch of Lego Horizon Adventures on Switch, and now includes two, admittedly lesser-known, series typically associated with PlayStation releasing on the console.
If Hot Shots is considered a mainline entry in the Everybody’s Golf series, it will be the eight installment since the first title that was released exclusively on the PS1 all the way back in 1997. It will also be the first of those eight games to be released on a non-PlayStation console. There have been spinoffs that launched on mobile, an Everybody’s Tennis, and the last game in the series was a first foray into VR for Everybody’s Golf.
Elsewhere in today’s Direct, we were treated to our best look at Metroid Prime 4: Beyond yet, but still no word on when exactly it might be released. Nintendo decided to close the Direct on the confirmed return of Tomodachi Life. It will be the first game in the series for more than a decade.
More to follow…