Update: It has been confirmed that Azur Lane: Crosswave will be launching "physically and digitally" on Switch in the west in February 2021.

Original Story [Wed 23rd Sep, 2020 10:30 BST]: Idea Factory is bringing Azur Lane: Crosswave to the west in 2021, it has announced.

Based on the Chinese side-scrolling shooter Azur Lane which was released on smartphones in 2017, Azur Lane: Crosswave is set in a world where over 50 battleships – including real-world craft such as HMS Hood, IJN Yamato and Bismarck – are reimagined as wide-eyed, anime-style girls who command massive fleets of ships.

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Unlike the original game, which adopted a 2D perspective, Crosswave is described as a "high-octane 3D Action Shooter" created using Unreal Engine and contains 4 game modes – Story, Extreme Battle, Photo and Episode – as well as customisable characters, rare items and in-game rewards.

The game is already available on Steam and PS4, and the Switch port will benefit from the inclusion of characters Taihou and Formidable from the outset – they were previously DLC on other formats. There's also an updated Photo Mode where players can choose up to 6 characters instead of 3, "with extended camera angles!"