Pikmin 4 suffered a notoriously long development cycle before it finally made its way to Nintendo Switch in July of this year, and now we know why. Information on the fourth Pikmin game comes from a recent interview with Game Informer conducted with chief and programming director Yuji Kando and planning director Yutaka Hiramuki.
After Pikmin 3 was released on the Wii U to critical success in 2013, fans immediately found themselves hoping for yet another follow-up with more alien adventures with their leaf-headed friends. After Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto shared insight into the future of the series during an interview with Eurogamer in 2015, it appeared the wait wouldn’t be too much longer. At the time, he didn’t mince words, saying that Pikmin 4 was “actually very close to completion.” Nintendo followed up the creator’s words with its own statement as well: “We can confirm that Pikmin 4 is in development but that is all we can confirm at present.”
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Fans were understandably excited, but what followed that interview was a seven-year drought without any substantial updates on Pikmin 4. So, with the game finally in our hands, the question on everyone’s mind is this: Why did it take so long for Pikmin 4 to release? Kando has an answer.
“After the development for Pikmin 3 ended, we started development for Pikmin 4 as a small team,” Kando said. “As we made several attempts and tried out various things, there were moments when we could see the game take shape, but since we had to prioritize other projects, we weren’t able to create the development team framework needed to complete the game. But the fruits of our labor during that time lead to the result of what Pikmin 4 is today.”
In other words, it seems Miyamoto might have jumped the gun just a bit when speaking on Pikmin 4 back in 2015. Game development is obviously very complicated, though, and Kando’s words definitely shed some light on why it took so long to get this specific project ready for the public.
“We know the fans were worried since Pikmin 4 was taking a long time, but thanks to their patience, we were able to make a game that is enjoyable for many people,” Hiramuki added.
Pikmin 5 hasn’t been announced yet, but with any luck, Miyamoto will do another interview confirming existence. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait a decade to play it on the Nintendo Switch 2.
