New Rumour Suggests Advance Wars Could Be Delayed Until 2023

I get it was delayed because of the Ukraine crisis (even though it makes no sense), but there is no reason for this game to not release now.

Yeah, why it was delayed in the first place I get...but....2023? Seriously? They better add Dual Strike to this collection then. :/

For anyone asking why it's delayed, please gain empathy and a brain to process current events around you. Thanks

Thank God the children have a little more time before having to ask their parents what 'war' means 😰

I totally respect their decision to delay it in the first place but now that it is not the only thing in the news, it’s about time. The rest of this year is pretty barren aside from splatoon

I'd be fine if it releases next year. The rest of this year is stacked for the Switch.

I get why they did it. Blue Moon are stereotypes of Russians after all.

I'll be happy just to have it at all.
It's completed and I know it will be released eventually.

Besides, we all have backlogs here, every one of us. And the rest of 2022 is a BIG year for new releases. (And a 2023 release date will prevent loss of sales for the big ticket games coming out this year, so the proposed release date makes sense.) Love Advance Wars, but it can wait!

I won't waste time on you, I'll just redirect you to @Aerona 's funny comment

Thank God the children have a little more time before having to ask their parents what 'war' means 😰

So they delayed it to be sensitive to the war, and they're now releasing it on the war's anniversary...?!

Nintendo should take this opportunity to actually make a difference for those suffering in Ukraine by releasing the game and giving ALL proceeds to Ukrainian humanitarian aid organizations. Nintendo earns positive PR while doing something that ACTUALLY helps people. It reframes the game completely in the public’s view.

This literally will be the longest generation of games at this rate...

@Joeynator3000 I know right? It feels weird to leave that game out being that there's only 3 games in the trilogy with this cast of characters but we're only getting the first two. My guess is Nintendo was gonna sell Dual Strike as DLC.

I mean, I imagine there's gotta be at least a handful of Ukranians looking forward to this game that would bring them a little levity through this unprecedented time of hardship, but they're being made to wait out of sensitivity to themselves, right? I doubt the people of Ukraine care whether or not this game gets delayed, as they have bigger problems to deal with. I say that not as an entitled Advance Wars fan, as I don't really have an interest in the game. But looking at it objectively, what does prolonging the release accomplish? The conflict is still probably going to continue by 2023, so what was the point in any of it?

Whenever it comes out, I will buy it.

I was thinking Nintendo might sweep it under the rug and shadow-drop it digital-only this fall.

@Tyranexx Hearting your post just for your avatar

For as long as there are still foreigners firing guns in a country with a claim that remains obviously disputed, this game will never release.

Nintendo's really been going all-out with PR these past few years. First this, then openly speaking about their support for same-sex marriage in their workplace. Not sure if this is something to defend Nintendo for or slander them for.

@iLikeUrAttitude

Most rational people adopt that mindset but I am sure Nintendo is anticipating Twitter slacktivists acting offended because Olaf resembles a certain country

@Ravio18
Because Sparks of Hope is apparently chopped liver

@iLikeUrAttitude
You won't waste your time on me, but proceeded to @ me and comment to me. Weird. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of great games to play on the Switch and elsewhere, we don't have to bully Nintendo into releasing a game they aren't ready to release yet.

@MisterNasty
It's not that Olaf looks likes any particular country, it's just not a smart move to release a cheerful fun little game about an invading country attacking another country at this moment. Move on and play something else.

For anyone complaining, nothing is going to get Nintendo to release this game until the war is long past. You can talk all you want about some of Nintendo’s questionable business decisions, but one thing they never do is get into any political or social controversy. They do whatever they can to be beyond reproach, and that will remain the case here. If you need a strategy shooter game this badly, buy Mario and Rabbids: Sparks of Hope when it comes out. It will be just as good.

I never thought this game was coming out this year. I mean I do find it weird that they would delay it until 2023 but I guess with so many games releasing in the last half of the year they decided against releasing it this year for better sales.

@steventonysmith ok fine, I might pick it up, but other than that there is nothing else appealing to me

To be fair, where would it have been launched this year? february sounds great

Welp, I guess I know my first gaming purchase of 2023 then..

@Thoughts
Good point, it’ll probably not get released until it’s out of the public consciousness at least.

Last time advance wars (on advance) was only delayed a few months and last I’ve heard the situation is not making major headlines every time I turn around so what’s going on?

@steventonysmith For anyone saying this, please realize video games are fiction and wholly seperate from reality. Thank you.

Still one of Nintendo's weirdest moves; totally don't agree with it, and continue to wait patiently for the inevitable release. And all over a completely unrelated matter.

Ninty gonna Ninty.

One word: dumb. The wise decision at the time over sensitivity is long past, especially as Putin could be at this for years. We don't delay games full of gun violence each time there's a shooting. If that were our high ground, there'd be no games with gun violence. It's time to get Advance Wars out, especially since it is a cartoon game.

I don’t understand why Nintendo doesn’t just donate part of the sale instead of delay the game

Good grief, I forgot this game was even slated to come out. I hope they can get it out sooner rather than later. Of course it’s completely understandable why they’d want to wait, but I’m sure many of us were looking forward to it, myself included, so it really does stink that a finished product like this has to be put on the back burner for so long.

I hope the game one day sees the light of day. My biggest fear is if the game never comes out or if it gets canned for whatever reason, much like the playable MegaMan Legends 3 prototype and becomes part of lost media.

Fun-filled war game Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is now available to own!

Might as well just never plan on releasing it, then, because the conflict in Ukraine will likely continue for years, and I doubt Russia's imperialism will be restricted to just Ukraine.

They will hold this game until the timing is good for them to make the most money out of it they don’t care if the game is finished or if some people want to play it , the only thing that drive Nintendo is the money , they don’t care about what the fans want just how much they can grab from you.

This was always a schedule slot filler Nintendo has no reason to care about this series after Fire Emblem became universally popular while having it’s safe fantasy setting for it’s wars rather than anything that can be seen as contemporary.

At this point just make an Advance Wars 3 instead. AW 1+2 were re-released to death already.

February makes sense. They’ve got a game every month for this year and February might be the next available slot.

@munstahunta Releasing a game when it has the optimum opportunity to reach the widest audience… as in, players have the time, space and money to play it, is both commercially sensible AND it’s good for players.

I'm one of those who thinks it was stupid to delay it in the first place. Can you people not separate fiction from reality? Because you should seek immediate help if not...

@MetalMan
Same here. They refuse to release Advance Wars, yet are allowing Toy Soldiers HD to be released? The peck?

I don't want to offend AW fans but I still find it incredibly random that Nintendo chose this game to remaster and not something more popular like any of the GBA FEs.

@AlienX Fire Emblem regularly receives new games. Nintendo likely went the remaster route with this to gauge interest in the series at present.

And it's not really random. The series has been going since the NES, so it makes sense for Nintendo to try and revitalize it.

Of course, even if there was enthusiasm leading up this release, it might have evaporated after these endless delays.

@GameOtaku what world are you living in? I mean, even the actual world economy is a result of the conflict. Do you watch the news?

Stranger Things had tons of Russian stereotypes which could have been deemed inappropriate at this time, but barely anyone talked about it.

@MetalMan I guess you dont have Twitter then. And I applaud that, sir.

@alienx woah woah woah… Advance Wars is vastly the superior strategy game. And was more popular than FE before Awakening. Also, we have the yearly Fire Emblem game, leave some room for other IPs. There’s already enough FE for you to play already.

@Mr_Fox one thing is a tv series who just have Russians in it…. And another a war game which is about a Russian general stereotype invading another nation. Yeah, at the end it’s a cartoony game…. But we know how this Crystal generation reacts in social media. I understand how Nintendo wants to avoid that backlash and conversation about their newest game.

@YoshiF2 I couldn't care less for modern FE, it's not even FE anymore.

Probably the best strategy rpgs ever made and they have become politicised. Such a shame for those who are missing out on these stone cold classics. Can’t help feeling the later in the generation these games release the less attention and sales they will get, as tends to happen when a new gen is on the horizon.

How dare Nintendo have morals, class, and respect. We want our port of a GBA game about tanks invading countries!

I totally get wanting to not appear disrespectful and distasteful, but at this point Nintendo’s shot themselves in the foot. A lot of people who wanted it have either lost interest or just plain forgotten it’s even a thing anymore. And, unfortunately, the russian-ukraine war is already out of most of the publics mind. It shouldn’t be, but the public picks up something to care about and will then forget it 2 weeks later.

All I know is I'm buying it day one.

I wish news outlets would stop reporting on rumors and speculation.

Some of the comments on here are so sweet. This isn't to do with "morals" and "integrity" it's to do with MONEY. Nintendo are my favourite company but they're still the same as any other big firm - decisions like this are driven by fear. They know full well the kind of hyper-sensitive, hysterical headlines a little game with "war" in the title could provoke. Then they have to dedicate precious resources and bandwidth to containing any reputational damage. It's cold-hearted risk management, nothing more.

@HammerKirby Well said. August looks pretty barren for releases so would be welcome around the middle of next month

Nintendo know this is not a massive selling game, so why risk any negative publicity of a guaranteed Twitter social media backlash, this will be the real reason as the links to actual conflict are tenuous at best.

Games like call of duty and modern warfare are far more closely linked, and you do not see them getting delayed, why..... because they are massive sellers.

I wonder if its to do with the war in Ukraine but more to do with public reception rather than the actual game being made especially since the game was already made its just a remake.

Why stop there? Push it back 10 more years! I mean, there's bound to still be a war somewhere next year...

I mean, what's happening in Ukraine is horrible, i understand that, but pushing back war-related games because there's a war on is just... where does it end?

Lmao ZERO reason why this game was delayed let alone for this long over something that wasn’t technical/bug issues.

I guarantee you Ukraine doesn’t care that another war game out of a bunch of them was released or not. Ukraine has bigger things to worry about then a videogame releasing. If anything Ukraine would have been fine with it if a portion of the sales went to relief. You know like what other people did?

I know this kind of reasonable alternative would bewilder the “Have some sympathy!” ree crowd here

It’s hilarious too when Triangle Strategy [another game with Not Russia nation invades neighbor] was released at a similar window no problem

Inb4 “That is different because that is sword not gun”

@steventonysmith if this game took place in Ukraine that would have made sense.

I can wait, no rush but I forsee a new CoD or Battlefield release before this, and nobody will care with those about stuff like empathy or war (and it would make much more sense to postpone that type of games)

Just saying, me being patient and accepting this doesn’t mean it makes sense to begin with.

I'm thinking this has gotta suck for WayForward, especially if future collabs with Nintendo may have been sales dependant.

Although this was delayed due to the war. I imagine the need to relocate this title in 2023 is because Nintendo have nothing to release in 2023 other than Zelda BOTW2. And maybe prime 4 but with retro at the helm MP4 could be 2024 or even a switch 2 launch title.

I don't think Advance Wars is ever going to release Nintendo are going to cancel it

@iLikeUrAttitude There hasn't been NO war ever since humanity started colonising and politicising, long before these mediaforms even existed, but plenty of war games and movies, even INTENDED to make war seem cool and fun (while writing this, the intro song of Cannon Fodder pops up in my head, "war has never been so much fun"), and recruit young impressionable people to join the slaughter. Ukraine was just an excuse, as it was for everything it was used for, every context it was mentioned in,... There's probably over a hundred wars going on now we don't even know about, it's an industry, a machine, a business, and a very powerful and intimidating one at that: if you WOULD try to stop it, obviously WILL walk over your corpse to keep going. Terrorism in its purest form, whether they're shooting or negotiating and just showing the guns. It's what they do, "their job", their investment, and their way of achieving their goal. Which is not, and will never be, peace. That would be their end.

ANYWAYS, I was pretty hyped about revisiting some of my old favourite classics on my favourite system, but I've done so since then, just without the new coat of paint. Still great games in their original format. Maybe by the end of the Switch's lifespan, there will be a Nintendo Selects line, and I'll reconsider getting it at a cheap price, but cheap (or even decent price drops) and Nintendo don't really seem to go together, and I have plenty other games to play.

I don't remember anyone complaining when AW2 was released the year the USA invaded Iraq. Where was the empathy then?

It is understandable to delay the release of the game so it doesn't release close to the start of the war, but as others have mentioned, if Nintendo wants to make a real difference, they should give all the profits of the game's sales to Ukraine.

At the very least they could have made a statement in the investor meeting that they stopped sales in Russia because they do not support the war instead of saying they did it because the payment provider they use suspended transactions and due to shipping difficulties.

@Rayquaza2510
The key difference is COD or Battlefield aren't making light of war and invading countries. They have a serious tone

This is just annoying now. I hope it releases soon even though I’m probably not going to buy it

@steventonysmith still not enough of a excuse.

Also them being “serious” is a bigger problem actually.

@Serpenterror Make Advance Wars 3? Have I got news for you

@Rayquaza2510
Making light of a serious subject is worse then portraying the serious topic in all it's awful violent destructive nature

In the meantime Nintendo continues to release new games in Russia and operate its business there while fearing a backlash from releasing Advance Wars.

@steventonysmith still a poor excuse in my opinion.

No matter if a game has "light hearted" story about war or "you murder and shoot other people in cold blood dead, because fun and giggles"

If you postpone the first one you should do the same with the second, war is war and the reason Advanced Wars was postponed is due to war in Ukraine, totally fine by me but in that case any game with war elements in it, no matter if serious or not should be postponed.

rant moment

I had a good discussion with a friend about this few weeks ago, and while I can wait for the game he doesn't think this way.

The first thing he said "and why is war in ukraine suddenly a problem but the war in Syria or the Middle East was fine to release war games?"

Double standards he said, and I get his point even while I don't fully share it, it is true that the only reason people and the world care about this war is because it's in "the backyard of Europe" and not some far away place in Asia (or Africa) "nobody gives a **** about"

And this dicusssion could become even more grime (and off topic) if I start about how most EU countries treat war victim refugees from Syria and how they treat the ones from Ukraine.

Double standards again

Same friend had a great suggestion to just stop making war and FPS games, because considering there is always a war somewhere, we should have empathy with those people.

Yet we do not

Unless this crap happens in "the backyard" of EU or the US.

rant moment over

And while I do not fully share his opinion, I do fully understand where he is coming from.

So no there is ZERO reason and absolutely NO excuse to treat Advance Wars different than CoD or Battlefield.

No matter that the one is serious and the other is not, there are other not serious games coming out this year with war like elements and they are not postponed.

But maybe that is due to them not containing tanks

Or companies just not caring.

Simple

And I will patiently wait, even if Nintendo does release this game by 2024 I will wait, but that is me.

Wouldn't be surprised anymore, 2022 is already PACKED. It will either be released in December, or early next year.

@LordPieFace I sure hope Wayfowards development team has been compensated for a full works pay and not hinging on the fact that it'll sell good, in a year or more time 'else this will put a strain on Nintendo and Wayfoward's relationship and future partnership.

@Rayquaza2510
Also advanced wars, COD and Battlefield are all released by different publishers. It doesn't shock me that Nintendo has a higher moral ground than Activision and EA

I'm not buying a FE game until Advance Wars reboot is available. That fantasy medieval war game gets a pass but not one with guns and tanks. Double standards.

I will replace this one with Steam Games.

On Switch, only Mario + Rabbids 2 this year.

I respect the decision to delay.

The war in Ukraine will last years. Look at any recent conflict where you have people fighting for their Country. Russia will not win easily and Ukraine will not concede. It will last years. Frankly it's nonsense to suggest the game should be delayed until it's over.

It's equally nonsense to suggest the game should be cancelled entirely. It bares absolutely no resemblance to the war. It was delayed purely out of respect.

Which leads us to another nonsense! It will not launch on the 1 year anniversary of the war... that would defeat the entire purpose of the decision to delay the launch!

I fully expect it will arrive later this year, with little fan fare. And I personally think that's OK. They've made the right decision originally, and it's the right decision to then launch the game.

@MysticX “because these are regular folks that look like you and I” - an actual US politician said this.

@Ravio18 Kirby and it looks like Xenoblade are quality additions, but….yeah….even then, both of these franchises have had recent updates. I have more than enough to play aTm, but the last two years have been slow.

@DarthFoxMcCloud Dumb! 🙄

There was no reason to delay this.

Nintendo needs to get off their high horse, and just release the game. Those that don't want to buy the game because of how it makes them "feel", don't buy it. The rest of us will.

This poor, poor game. Nintendo being its totally weird self will 100% cause the game to be dead on arrival. Honestly, I bet the game will never be released. It'll just be bagged and canceled.

I feel like the Ukraine conflict will be mostly out of the news cycle by next year.

The war. The war in Ukraine. "Crisis" is putting it mildly.
Looks like Advance Wars is going to miss two Christmases in a row. At this rate it will release after Nintendo premieres new hardware and be one of those "dying platform hidden gem" games, kinda like Shantae, Metal Storm or Mother 3.

As long as they're done adding content, I'm hoping to see the game as soon as possible, as the sensibilities ostensibly preventing the game from coming out are beyond my own. However, I acknowledge the connection between Blue Moon and Russia design-wise, and to any fans impacted by the invasion for whom playing is stressful right now, I hope this delay does bring some measure of solace to you, however much it can amount to with the real-world events going on. If it's just an excuse, I hope it lets WayForward fix whatever they need to, too.

That being said, as an AW fan, I am thoroughly battle-tested when it comes to delays and prolonged release drought. It would be cool if they inserted something extra into the game in the meantime (new maps? GBA visuals?), but regardless of whether they do or not I'm here for it (when it inevitably arrives the day before some other disaster).

@YoshiF2
No I don’t watch the news. The situation has improved in my eyes since I’ve not been bombarded with links to news stories about it in the last several weeks. So obviously the news of the invasion hasn’t been significant in a bit. It was delayed due to 9/11 by 2 or 3 months and this has been significantly longer.

@Madao “ I don't remember anyone complaining when AW2 was released the year the USA invaded Iraq. Where was the empathy then? ”

Maybe because the internet as we know it didn’t exist back then? You didn’t hear anyone complaining because people didn’t go to the internet to complain as much as everyone does now?

@Rayquaza2510 you’re missing the context. I guess you haven’t played the first Advance Wars, but it has a commander, a clearly Russian commander who invades a foreign nation. It’s about the context, not about if there are other wars right now or before.
Clearly Nintendo wants to avoid the backlash and conversation about it, because, we all know Twitter and this young generation who complains about every single social detail.

I think the only ones who understand the delay are the ones who actually played this games. Not that we support it, but we understand why.

@GameOtaku well, that’s a thing in perspective. As you said, you don’t watch the news. That doesn’t mean the news don’t report it. Obviously news about the conflict are less than at the beginning, however, it’s still in the public’s eye because of all the economic repercussions it’s generating around the globe. Possible Recessions, inflation, gas prices, Europe, Middle East, China & India buying from Russia, etc etc. Countless topics directly related to the ongoing war.

The talk about the conflict hasn’t gone away, people just talk about another side of the conflict. It’s not just about tanks and bombs anymore.

@YoshiF2 or you know, no one would actually complain if Nintendo released the game now, just like it happened back then.

I'm happy to be proved wrong, but I truly don't think this will ever be released. Some things are just bigger than a video game, and a major war in Europe with dramatic international repercussions is definitely one of them.

@Madao I guess we will never know. But judging the trend of this generation feeling insulted by everything…. I guess people would complain.

@Don No. They stopped their business in country. Also, they stopped shipping videogame cartridges and consoles. Last physical release was Triangle Strategy, if I don't confuse. And this release was (very?) limited. Nintendo of Russia promised to release Chocobo GP Racing and Kirby and the Forgotten Land cartridges before this summer, but... Nothing happened. But, people bought cartridges with Kirby game from online stores. What's about other games? - I don't know. Also, Russian Nintendo eShop is closed, so there is no opportunity to buy digital copies of the games nor redownload the old ones.

@YoshiF2 I did play the games when they originally came out.

Thanks, liberals, for turning the world into an overly-sensitive clown show.

@steventonysmith People should keep the same energy when other conflicts and/or tragedies occur.

I'm glad I have every single advance wars games still. But I still wish this game came out now. But I can wait I suppose.

@Vyacheslav333
It’s odd that Nintendo Russia site was updated with Mario Strikers and Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes for Switch after Nintendo announced they were suspending their operations in Russia.

Until Advance Wars releases on Switch, I’ll replay the No Russian mission in MW2 for the millionth time

It's absolutely rediculous that it was delayed due to the war in Ukraine. It's a work of fiction. People really need to get over themselves and stop being offended by every single thing.

@steventonysmith you realize this is a GAME, right? As in not real life and fictional. Jesus, get over yourself.

@HammerKirby I like you. You're actually a sane person who can separate reality from playtime.

@Masacheez
You realize it's a rerelease of an ancient game that sold terrible it's first go around. You realize the Switch had thousands of games that I doubt you played all of them, and so move on catch on what you have missed and wait like a good little boy for them to release this whenever

@steventonysmith 700,000 sales for the first GBA game isn’t terrible by all means.

It's easy enough to just play the original games.

Some voice acting and a questionable graphical update doesn't change the core games at all and isn't worth waiting years for.

@YoshiF2
190k was from the United States and almost the remainder was from Japan. During a time in which Mario Karts first portable game came out and sold over 2.5 million copies. Advanced Wars was not a huge selling, successful game.

@WanzerAce
I agree if you can't wait for some reason just play the originals. Or better yet, stop living in the past and play one of the countless new releases for the system. Like the excellent 2019 Wargroove, it plays a lot like Advanced Wars

@Chunkboi79
Knowingly buying illegal goods can lead to consequences, so maybe don't openly brag about it in the future

@steventonysmith Agree, Wargroove is incredibly good. I can only hope it sold well enough to become a regular series.

Advance Wars should never release until wars never happen again.

This is very important. We have a WORLD to save.

Hol' Up...

Am I the only one who thinks 24th of February 2023 is a strange date? I mean, it's the very same as a certain country invaded another... Just one year later.

@steventonysmith I don't think you understand what "empathy" means if you think that delaying a silly cartoony video game is empathetic. There are many realistic war games being released and I doubt any Ukrainians are offended by any of it. What probably offends them is people pretending to have empathy for them by virtue signalling rather than actually doing something to help. If Nintendo actually cared then releasing the game and donating a portion of profits to help refugees would be much more empathetic. Delaying the release in no way affects the people affected by the war so there is no reason to claim it's a result of empathy, let alone to do it in such an arrogant way.

@Rayquaza2510 I will also wait... because I have no other choice. I'd rather have the game now.

I don't think it's simply because it's in Europe's "backyard" as this isn't the first time Russia has attacked Ukraine. It's because the war has direct consequences for the people of not only Europe but other Western countries. We are a little more removed here in Australia but the flow on effects still reach us.

Whether the game is released now or delayed until the war is over won't affect Ukrainians one way or the other so arguing that it's empathetic to delay a silly video game like this one, is completely absurd. Nintendo are a large company that could show real empathy for the people affected by the war if they choose. Maybe they have already donated money to help refugees but releasing this game would be an opportunity for them to donate a little more.

example:
"We here at Nintendo realise how privileged we are to be able to design and play war themed games in the safety of our homes without the threat of real war all around us. We had delayed Advanced Wars Reboot but have consulted with UNHCR and come to the conclusion that we can do more good for the people affected by the war by releasing the game and donating a percentage to the profits to help refugees."