Nintendo Switch to Get New Fire Emblem in 2018, Relies on Phone App for Matchmaking

The steady drip of Nintendo Switch news continues. Alongside its announcement of Fire Emblem Heroes for Android and iOS, Nintendo revealed that it’s also working on a new Fire Emblem title for Switch, which will release in 2018.

There wasn’t much beyond that, except the promise of a “full-scale war”. Nintendo also noted that the new game would mark the return of Fire Emblem to home consoles after 2007’s Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, for the Wii. As of now, there isn’t even any artwork for the new entry in the Fire Emblem series.

We already knew that voice chat on the Switch would work through an app, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime revealed their approach last week. In a new interview with Gamespot, Aime expanded on the abilities of the app, which includes matchmaking and lobby creation.

“The smartphone app that we’re creating, that will be part of our online service, we believe is going to be a very compelling part of the overall proposition because that’s how you’ll voice chat, that’s how you’ll do your matchmaking, and create your lobby,” Aime said. “We also think it’s a very elegant solution because if you’ve taken your Switch on the go, you’ve put yourself in a hotspot, you’re looking at get a quick match of Mario Kart in, to whip out some sort of bulky, gamer headset is a bit of a challenge.”

It’s a bit puzzling why Nintendo seems to have taken this approach, which will force gamers to use two different devices – the Switch, and a phone – for multiplayer action.

Lastly, Nintendo has cleared the air on the differences between Wii U and Switch when it comes to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While both versions will have a frame rate of 30fps, the game renders in 720p on Wii U, and will run at 900p with the Switch docked.

While this might sound disappointing to some, given that Nintendo said the Switch is capable of 1080p/60fps while docked, remember that resolution isn’t the only factor in a game’s visual quality. It still doesn’t bode well for future titles, though.

We discuss everything we know about the Nintendo Switch on Transition, our new podcast on gaming and pop culture. You can subscribe to it via RSS or just listen to this episode by hitting the play button below.