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Pikmin 4 launches this summer, and its bringing an adorable dog companion

George Yang
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During the February 2023 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo revealed that Pikmin 4 launches on July 21 exclusively for Switch. The game will bring a new Pikmin type, as well as a dog companion.

Pikmin 4 - Nintendo Direct 2.8.23

The latest trailer showed off some new features of the game, including a new ice elemental Pikmin. This creature can be thrown at enemies in order to freeze them, before throwing another Pikmin, like a yellow lightning one, in order to inflict major damage.

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There’s also a new dog companion joining franchise protagonist Olimar as well. This dog can do a variety of exploration tasks, including breaking down big rocks, dragging large objects out of the way, and carrying Olimar and his Pikmin around across bodies of water.

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Aside from Pikmin 4, Nintendo’s tentpole release this year is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but the company has several other releases such as the already launched Fire Emblem Engage and March’s Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. That leaves Nintendo’s Fall 2023 release calendar rather light so far. However, knowing Nintendo, it should fill up as the year progresses.

Nintendo now has a big release hitting in the summer to keep its momentum of exclusive game releases going until the inevitable Nintendo Switch successor. New hardware isn’t likely until at least 2024, seven years after the Switch’s initial launch in 2017.

Pikmin 4 was already confirmed to be in development all the way back in 2015, but was seemingly rebooted in 2019. It’s been 10 years since Pikmin 3 released on Wii U. However, if Pikmin fans want something similar to play in the meantime, Tinykin is a great Pikmin-like game that will tide them over.

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