Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Gets A Release Date, And It's Sooner Than You Think

That's amazing. Usually games get delayed (like BotW2) but it's rare that a game actually releases sooner than previously announced

I'm hyped, just 3 more months

Literally beyond excited for this! My most wanted game of the year comes even sooner than expected!

Not a big fan of how Nintendo literally said "Releasing earlier then expected". Not sure thats the best sign...

But anyway, still super excited. And glad to see its just around the corner!

It's great! It seems that may have an interesting story. Maybe with time again as the first.

Amazed they are able to put it out so early, but then it shouldn’t be near pokemon. This is going to be my next game purchase.

I also wonder if Splatoon 3 will be the Christmas game now?

I wonder what takes the September spot? Splatoon 3? Zelda HD Double Pack?

Sort of funny, for me that kind of turns it from picking it up at launch to probably needing to wait on it because I've got Nirvana Initiative, Three Hopes, and renewing my Gamepass all around that same time.

I'm worried about the special edition being a My Nintendo Store exclusive... it means there won't be any other options to go with if it sells out there. I have a complete Xenoblade special edition collection and I really hope I can keep it that way, I'll be upset if this goes up and sells out while I'm sleeping.

@AndyC_MK111 Is Nintendo that involved with this game? I thought it was mainly developed by MonolithSoft, and I'm not sure where they stand on delaying games for more refinement.

I am more interested in this story from the perspective of what it means for Nintendo's back half of the year.

Maybe it means a summer direct could be packed? Maybe it doesn't mean anything lol

I'm sort of off of big JRPGs I just dont have 80 spare hours these days and I get too antsy to start something else

@AndyC_MK111 They could have cut some content and give it back later as paid DLC. Just a thought.

What are Nintendo avoiding at the end of the year to push BOTW2 to next year and pull this forward to July?

This. Looks. AWESOME! Someone at Nintendo read my comment earlier hoping for a new trailer. Will watch a few times lol.

Honestly, is it me or is there much more going off in this game than usual? I mean, if DF thinks BotW2 wasn't running on Switch, Lord knows what they think about this trailer!

So... I have three months to complete Xenoblade 1, 2, and Torna.

@mariomaster96 I'm guessing BotW2 was delayed at least partially to get this out sooner since Monolithsoft works on both of them. SO PUMPED!

Guess my August is completely covered then.

What the hell, I had a feeling something like this will happen. I'm damn serious about it. Can't wait to go 98hrs or more with this.

@BomTomdabil For all intents and purposes Nintendo owns Monolithsoft. I'm pretty sure they have a direct say in release cadence for the studio.

July 29th? I was expecting Splatoon 3 to be July now its either September or being moved to October so they have a big 10 million seller first party game for the holiday season

@Silly_G I would play 2 first, then Torna, then 1 if you have time.

I wonder if Advance Wars 1+2 is releasing in September now.

Great, now if only I could finish 1 and 2 before that...

Oh that's really cool for people that want this. I was thinking much later in the year.

@Kiz3000 Probably a pair of games related to your avatar that are kind of a big deal.

2022 Breath of the Wild 2 lives!

This will be my first entry into xenoblade. Regarding character design, seems like monolith finally nails it for my preferred palate compared to the first two tries.

Just wow! Didn't see that one coming at all! Super excited and a day one purchase for me!

Well .. there's no chance of me catching up with the series in time now... Very cool for fans though.
Wonder what this means for Splatoon 3? Mario stickers and fire emblem are both in June with switch sports in may (I think), is Splatoon still releasing in summer?

Sounds a smidge too soon for that. Mostly because Splatoon 3 is coming out around Summer as well.

Summer usually doesn't get big releases much as Fall does. I hope the 2 games don't overlap in terms of sales. But I don't think should worry about that. More focus on Splatoon 3 and getting it as it comes out.

Xenoblade Chonicles 3 in july?this is way sooner then i expected.

Wow! I absolutely adore 1 and 2. This coming in time for the summer holidays is sweeeeet!

wait what!? thats a huge jump!

Wow...just....wow. I need that Special Edition!

Limited Edition limited to the Nintendo store may not be good, need to see the price. I have about $38 on the eShop so may just go digital.

Trailer looks and sounds great.

I hope combat is not the convoluted mess it was in the last game. Also, less Nopon please. Meh, meh, meh.... Tora going to spontaneously combust! Meh, meh, meh... Tora is pregnant!

One of the most anticipated 2022 games, bumped up to one of the few periods when I tend to have money to burn on big full-pricers? Yes, please.

Of course, I won't be done with XCDE and XC2/Torna by late July (not that I had high odds of being done with them by late September), so three parallel Xenoblade playthroughs it is, I guess! Don't send help, I'm beyond any.😎😄

EDIT: caught up with the trailer now, and there's a whole lot going on! Still not sure if any semblance of blade system appears (which I'd personally welcome), but the new battle footage clearly shows more characters capable of forming the party besides the Mane- er, Main Six (old typing habits die hard😆), the party itself looks to allow at least six units deployed at a time, and there's a cool fusion mechanic to boot! More intrigue (and more prominent characters) in the unfolding plot teases, too.

Getting this day 1. But damn the character designs are still the blandest ever. I really hope you can stay in those duo transformations for as long as possible so I don't have to look at the dude with the orange scarf. Can't believe that's a design that's come out of the xeno series. And it sounds like I'm playing this with Japanese dub again

They gave us another trailer already?? Dang I ain't complaining 😂😂

I’m happy for fans, but personally I’m glad this is coming earlier so Nintendo can move on to the next game release. Was hoping for a more exciting Direct in my opinion!

Actually a little bummed about this, because I’d have liked more time to pour into Live-A-Live which comes out like a week before. But I’ve heard that’s a little short(?) So at least it’s not the other way around.

Ahhhh too many games too soon! Monolith Soft have been on a roll. That they’re this confident about the game bodes we’ll for its quality.

DUDE So many games get delayed and Xenoblade 3 gets released EARLIER than it's anticipated release date OMG

Oooh that trailer looks gooood! I'm so excited to discover the secrets of this land and figure out how everything intertwines 😀

@Kiz3000 good point! Mario? 2d zelda? Metroid? Pokemon? DK? Mother 3? MOTHER 4??? Who knows, because whatever it is, its gonna be biiiiiiiiiiig and god knows that i crave e3, as so many predictable e3 announcements are happening now

This sounds like Nintendo clearing space in the Xmas schedule.

I really hope it's not like the scavenger hunt as the previous edition.

Better get my preorder in on the special edition. Gotta keep consistency with the others.

Wow, this might be the first time ever that I can think of a game releasing BEFORE the set date. Other than Sega surprise dropping Saturn and its games to edge out the 3rd party sports games which backfired badly, but that was a different thing.

Pretty exciting. Nintendo went like 2 years with virtually no games, now they're dumping like 6 big games all in 6 months. They really need to sort out pacing. Not that I'll complain about an early XC3!

What are they going to have during their usualy holiday window, though? BOTW2 was delayed and I think all the big games will be out by Fall. Bayo3 and MP4 are still unknowns, so maybe it means something.

That special edition is going to vanish like the wind.

@NEStalgia New Pokemon generation.

Awesome. An earlier release is a welcome surprise, and I have enough faith in Monolith that I doubt they'd release a half-baked game. Now the only question is if there are enough fall/winter games to fill in the gap Zelda just made.

@Royalblues Those are valid complaints for sure. Most anime/games get dubbed in either Texas or LA nowadays to save money. So it's refreshing to have a Dub that isn't the same like always.

@BomTomdabil Monotlithsoft is Nintendo, for all intents and purposes, as the latter has been the owner since 2007.

@BomTomdabil @AndyC_MK111 Monolith IS Nintendo, they bought them years ago and are considered an in house studio. They're actually Nintendo's largest single studio, so large in fact that they often have teams farmed out to help with other Nintendo projects - famously Breath of the Wild and its sequel.

@AndyC_MK111 I feel like the game itself was probably completed last year, and so they've been sitting on it since, with Nintendo holding it to release any time they wish.

The trailer was awesome and I am happy the release date got moved up so that I have more time to finish it before the end of the year.

I loved Chronicles 1 and X but Chronicles 2 really burned me. I absolutely hated most of the main cast, the super cute anime style and the bland environments. Not to mention the performance was trash. This one seems to be a bit better in every area though...I may keep an eye on it.

@AlanaHagues the special edition for X was quite humble compared to the enormous ones for the numbered games, it was the same size as about 3 Wii U game cases stacked together. A far cry from the DE's huge record containing box! If I recall correctly it was a (rather small) artbook and steelbook game case, along with the game of course.

@Ralizah Maybe, but usually GF's annual Pokemon is treated as separate from Nintendo's internal big Holiday promo.

@AndyC_MK111 Yeah, it's refreshing to get a reveal of a game that's going to release a few months later.

Shoot, I need to hurry and finish the second game.

@NEStalgia I'm sure they'll have more stuff to reveal for the latter half of the year. They always do. But with Pokemon releasing near the end of the year, and a truckload of first-party games coming out before then, I don't think they're super concerned about having a gigantic internally developed title release around then as well.

Could be wrong, of course.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has clearly been ready to go for some time. The fact they are moving up the release date in order to (and I'm assuming here), make space for something else just confirms that Nintendo will happily sit on finished game until they find a release slot they feel is appropriate.
I am here for it.

Wow! I'm in shock from that trailer, it looks so much better than the first look. And holy smokes, July! Makes me think Splatoon 3 may have been delayed to fall from its Summer release. I know it's cliche to say at this point, but I'm really feeling it!

Please don't put Splatoon 3 in July. But thats an unusual move. Monolith being that ready. Now people playing the older games to ready have less time to do so. Also makes me wonder what September will have. That new battle system looks intriguing. I like that they change up the combat to make the game its own thing.

I'm probably just getting a regular edition. I splurged on the XC2 SE and ended up not loving the game. I still like the series enough to buy it, but just plain vanilla will do this time.

Well that's unexpected, guess by delaying three games (Metroid Prime 4, Breath of the Wild 2, and Advance Wars 1+2 remake) they decided to push out this one. Either way this is a good move since most people will get something to kill time with before Pokemon Scarlet and Violet launch.

@AndyC_MK111 I'm talking about people who just got into the series, streamers who just got into the games now in preparation for 3 or have been for a while before 3 was announced. Folks who either might not have had a Switch when 2 or DE came out or just JRPG players that didn't have Xenoblade on the raidar.

So excited right now

Why do i get the feeling splatoon 3 has been dayed until the holiday season and so this has been brought forward to cover for it

@rawzeku

It's possible the game is essentially complete and they were going to sit in it a few months to give their June releases and a presumable July/August splatoon 3 some space. Perhaps Splatoon 2 suffered a minor internal delay so they pushed this forward and Splatoon 3 will be August/September.

It's not like Nintendo to rush games unless they are desperate(Mario tennis Ultra Smash on Wii U oof). Considering they delayed at least 2 games in the last couple months and it's a very small change it's nothing to be concerned about.

@NEStalgia Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will definitely be holiday titles for sure. We also got Live-A-Live, Bayonetta 3, and Splatoon 3 in between as well. I'm also pretty sure Nintendo will make another Nintendo direct around E3 time for the holiday months and the new year so maybe a new Donkey Kong game and a Zelda HD port are likely. Spark of Hope also needs a release date, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes will definitely got fall cover and we got the second wave of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC coming around late fall to early winter as well.

Not looking too hot. At least the multiple characters will be interesting but other than that, not so good.

Haven’t really played much of the series (something I hope to rectify by playing the Definitive Edition of 1) but that’s great for fans!

@HOUSE Better be Advance Wars.

I need to rewatch the trailer when I’m back at home but was that 7 or 8 characters in the party at once? That would probably mean that’s there’s no cap on how many party members you can have at once

I'll have to skip it for now. I just started XBC2 for the first time a month ago.

wen is the special edition available to preorder cause i dont see anything on it on my nintendo store.

Also a few people have said that this shows that they’ve been sitting on this game for a while now, but I doubt it. Probably they have a generous amount of time but then realized that it would be done sooner. This wouldn’t change based on BOTW2 getting delayed as they probably knew BOTW2 was getting delayed before they made the initial announcement

Personally, this leads me to believe even more that BOTW 2's delay was for scheduling/marketing reasons over quality assurance ones.

That's two games that would have a huge influence on Q4 sales that have been moved to early Q3 and Q1 next year, leaving few big holiday releases beyond Pokemon. I think this hints at an unannounced Q4 game being announced soon.

At the very least, I don't know why else they would push a game's release date forward. A subtle schedule change announcement will reach less ears than the original Nintendo Direct reveal, which will lead to confusion among more casual switch players not closely following gaming news sites. And while I can't say I know what happens behind the screen, pushing a release date forward so close to release sounds like a manufacturing nightmare, that's million of switch cartridges with pre-planed shipments that have to be changed as well.

I don't see why they could cause that chaos and confusion unless it's in service to something with greater marketing priority. That's my two cents, at least.

@AndyC_MK111 To me Xenoblade is what you play while also rotating other games, because of the length and how much content they have. People rushing them in advance of 3's release is really dumb. It's more of a TV series than movies that can be binged super quick before the new sequel hits the theatres.

The gameplay looks to be even bonkers than XC2 (I love it!!!)

@HOUSE Remember the Nintendo Direct in February was to showcase upcoming titles for the first half (April to September) of their fiscal year. By putting Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in late July, this actually make sense now. My guess is they probably gave it a September date by mistake. Either way it's still in the second quarter of the fiscal year so it still counts.

This means a guaranteed Zelda release in September

Can't complain, that's sooner than expected. That said, with my luck the special edition will go up on My Nintendo while I'm at work....

@OnlyItsMeReid Either that or they release it early knowing they can still make a DLC expansion later to wrap up the whole package.

@mezoomozaa Zelda got delay to 2023 though, unless you mean more Zelda ports then I guess Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, and Minish Cap could hopefully be available via NSO by that time.

In a time where everything’s gets delayed, this is a very nice surprise.

This is a really great surprise. Splatoon 3 will most likely get released on August, and Bayo 3 on September. Wonder if they have something else up their sleeves.

@Specter_of-the_OLED
No, I meant Wind Waker HD

No, it's too soon! I still need to go back and clear Xenoblade 2. So in a rare move, I'm dialing the difficulty down to easy and just coasting through so I can get the story. While I'm lukewarm at best on 2, I'm getting more excited for 3 the closer we get to its release date and I want to know the whole story before I get to it. Does this mean I also gotta play Torna, too...?

This was completely unexpected. I wonder why they are released in the summer this early instead of making it a near holiday release? Great 🤦‍♂️. I got to complete smt5 sooner then I wanted to before I dive into Xenoblade 3

@ReaperMelia Can you use eshop gift card balance in the store?

July 29th is so soon and great, but not when I still need to finish XC1 and XC2 lol! Guess I really have to move them up my to-play list to much sooner, and in-between my yearly KH play and starting Yakuza games.

I hope I can snag that special edition, but I won't be too upset if I can't.

I'm not "feeling it", really, even though it's on my Wish List. While I played over 200 hours of Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U (my personal introduction to the franchise), neither XC nor XC2 have managed to hold my attention for more than a few hours before I backlog them indefinitely. Maybe it's those battle cries that you have to endure dozens of times during a single fight (let alone hundreds of them), maybe it's the obligatory creatures (whose names I can't even recall, which should tell you how much I cared about them) whose sole purpose for existing is for comic relief and questionable humor, maybe it's the "mash buttons ad nauseam" battle mechanics, but IMHO the mainline series is overrated.

I would actually be stoked to see a Switch version of Xenoblade Chronicles X announced, though; it felt like a better and more realized, offline Phantasy Star in a lot of ways.

I probably buy this at a later date, seeing as I am not even that far into Xenoblade chronicles 2.

All of us who were waiting on Advance Wars when it suddenly got pulled "indefinitely" would love to see a similar announcement for that game. Please get it done, Nintendo, and release it SOON.

@Hyrule Nintendo has (in this generation) been known to sit on games until they are ready to fit into their schedule.

I'm hoping they are saving that new release slot for a Zelda Wind Waker/Twilight Princess launch

The enemy at 0:50 looks like the main antagonist of Gex series. My childhood nighmares might return D:

Darn, part of me is happy that the release is going to be sooner than expected, my wallet, however is crying. I already preordered Ai Somnium Files 2 collectors edition, i was going to hunt for CE MH Sunbreak and since i have CE for both XC1 and XC2, the CE for XC3 is also something i would love to get

@BomTomdabil Nintendo have owned Monolith for 15 years now. They assist on Zelda titles. If Xenoblade 3 is ready to go a little earlier, we can expect it to be of the required standard for a Nintendo title. They won’t cut corners.

@AlanaHagues omg can you imagine how incredible X would be on Switch?! Sigh one can dream

My summer is now complete!

I just wish the English VO is better this time. The English dub in the 2nd one was atrocious. Had to play the entire game in Japanese.

@AtlanteanMan turn the in-game voice volume to zero. No more battle cries.

I still havent played through Xenoblade 2 at all yet

@Bizzyb Same thing I was thinking, pretty good spot for that rumoured WW/TP double pack

Pretty nutty Battle UI and I like it, but anything is better than Xenoblade 1 UI IMO I just hated that side scrolling bar.

I watched this trailer with the biggest smile on my face.
This honestly made my day or maybe the whole week even.

We finally got a snippet at the combat and it looks interesting along with a bunch of new characters revealed with amazing designs.

I can't wait for this game.

Does anyone know if there is a limited edition Live A Live release? Not seen one myself but after Octo and Triangle I would have thought so.

So yeah, I know the release date being bumped up is weird and somewhat questionable, but am I the only one stunned at some of the trailer content?

Wow, now we're getting it sooner? Excellent news!

It only got pushed up by two months, I doubt this affected anything. I imagine the BotW2 delay changed up the release schedule. Also, Nintendo will most likely have 2-3 unannounced releases at the end of the year. Whatever the reason, I'm stoked to hear this.

@BomTomdabil Monolith soft is a first party developer, 100% owned by Nintendo, the Xenoblade games are as much Nintendo as Mario and Zelda get.

This feels like 2 things in combination.

Firstly that some of the games in the roster are done or mostly done and can be accelerated or are simply awaiting release (obviously not applicable to BOTW2, etc).

Second that Nintendo wants to even out the release slate with Advanced Wars no longer a goer with the Ukraine stuff.

Does make you wonder what other titles they’ve got ready to go.

And I just finished Xenoblade Definitive Edition a couple days ago too!

As someone who absolutely loved XC1 and Torna, and mostly hated XC2 (more and more so in retrospect, and especially after playing the vastly superior XC1 and Torna), everything I've seen about XC3 has me excited. I am a little bummed it will be cutting short my time with Live A Live though...

Yes.. Xenoblade is one of my favorite series ever. It begs the question, why is it being released early? What’s Nintendo’s lineup for Fall and Winter. There’s Pokémon and what else? I’m not complaining but just looks a little bit….huh..

I haven't played any Xenoblade, so this is just a curious question: Is it just my ignorance or do the entries all look quite similar?

After reading several threads on this site about Bayonetta 3, and quite a few before SMT V released, this comment section is truly comical. People complaining about a game being released early... LOL magnificent.

As a fan of Metroid and F-Zero, perhaps I should be annoyed, but I'm actually tickled by this.

Awesome news, way sooner than expected. I liked Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and XC Defeinitive Edition is not just my favorite RPG on Switch but one of my favorite ever. Day one buy.

Between this, Live a Live, Triangle Strategy, Splatoon 3, Bayonetta 3, and everything else we have, Switch is quickly becoming my favorite console of all time, which is saying a lot since I grew up with the NES and SNES! It’s a bottomless pit of great games!

@rawzeku They probably swap the release date with the Splatoon 3 one. It's my guess. Rumor last year said that Xenoblade 3 was ready for launch, but Nintendo wait for the best release date.

Hopefully 2 will get reprinted so I can buy it at a fair price.

@somebodyelse No, eShop credit doesn't apply to the My Nintendo Store. You'd need a different payment option.

@Specter_of-the_OLED The thought crossed my mind but I didn't even want to think about them doing that

Are the Xenblade games considered difficult? I've picked up the original for Wii and was really enjoying the story until the first compulsory fight which I can't be bothered to put the work in to beat so I've just left it. Is this a common experience?

I'm down to have a 3rd consecutive greatest of all-time ost a little earlier.

@Reyren This looks very connected to the other games in the series but the director has said its newcomer friendly too.

@DanijoEX I get the feeling this was moved forward to fill a gap left by Splatoon which may need more time, I always found it weird we didn't get a date at the last Direct.

This is truly excellent news. Though it does make me think that Splatoon 3 won't be coming out this summer anymore as was rumored. Which is fine because XBC3 will take me a month or two to finish easily.

@ReaperMelia

So excited for this game!!! I am OBSESSED with Xenoblade right now

Did anyone notice on Nintendo NA the SE got pulled out?

Hope it won't fe rushed when we actually play it... Animations in Xenoblade 2 where kinda rushed evident with the robotic movements in most cutscenes

@Boldfoxrd same here at one store they have it but at a much inflated price .. though they do have a world edition of the game meaning sold to the middle east at a normal price meaning less desirable for collectors.. but the game is the same as the n/a version..