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The official website for Pikmin 3 has been taken offline, which is leading lots of people to think there may be a Switch reveal soon (via Loot Pots).
The Switch has a constellation of Wii U titles that were ported to the portable platform, such as Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros. U, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Its library continues to be uplifted with first- and third-party titles, and we’re looking forward to the releases of Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Bayonetta 3. Yet, Nintendo isn’t wholly focused on the future and is porting two Wii U titles to the Switch soon, allege reports.
IGN’s Peer Schneider mentioned these mystery ports in the latest episode of the IGN NVC podcast. “The secret Wii U ports that are being discussed, one of them is a nine out of 10 for me, and one of them is more of a six out of 10… I really liked what Nintendo did with their take on real-time strategy games,” said Schneider. Industry insider Emily Rogers corroborated this, claiming that these ports “are not difficult to guess because there aren't many Wii U games left to port.” The prevailing theory is that one of these could be Pikmin 3. It fits the criteria for a top-notch real-time strategy game developed for the Wii U, and now that the official Pikmin 3 website has disappeared, speculation is swirling.
The website was taken down sometime between November 2019 and January 2020. It seems like a small thing, but Nintendo has performed hocus pocus on micro-sites in the past, which then led to an announcement. One example is the Animal Crossing official website showing placeholder text and capture of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild back in 2018. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was unveiled only a few months after that, in the September 2019 Nintendo Direct. Also, it could be that the Pikmin series is getting its first Switch entry in the form of Pikmin 4. Pikmin 3 sold 93,000 copies in its first two days in Japan, and received a warm reception around the world. I’m sure those who hold a torch for the game would leap at the opportunity to play it on a new platform and make the most of that hardware’s capabilities.
Or, Nintendo could have switched off the official Pikmin 3 website because it has no further use for it. We won’t know for sure until Nintendo acknowledges the speculation surrounding Pikmin 3. But, a Nintendo Direct is oftentimes the opportune moment to reveal a new game. Once we know more, we’ll keep you in the loop.
