Yoshi set for May 21; Star Fox confirmed for June 25

Nintendo’s Switch 2 story right now is pretty simple — the games calendar is finally getting concrete. This week, Nintendo used a dedicated Star Fox Direct and refreshed store pages to pin down two of the system’s next big exclusives: Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on May 21, 2026, and Star Fox on June 25, 2026. Splatoon Raiders is also sitting on the summer schedule for July 23. That matters because hardware launches feel very different once the “coming soon” fog turns into actual dates. (nintendo.com) ### What actually got confirmed? Yoshi wasn’t newly announced this week — its May 21 date was already live on Nintendo’s store and news pages — but Star Fox was the fresh lock-in. Nintendo’s May 6 presentation framed it as a Switch 2 exclusive arriving June 25, and the official store page now shows the same date. Splatoon Raiders had already been dated for July 23, so the summer lineup now reads like a real cadence instead of a loose promise. ### Why is Star Fox the bigger deal? (nintendo.com) Because Nintendo didn’t just slap a date on an old brand. This version is being sold as a cinematic reimagining of Star Fox 64, with fully voiced dialogue, orchestral music, a full visual overhaul, and new plus returning gameplay modes. The store page also lists online play for up to 8 players and local or online GameShare support, which makes it feel like more than a nostalgia port. ### What is Yoshi, exactly? Yoshi and the Mysterious Book looks like Nintendo doing the softer, weirder side of its platform lineup. (nintendo.com) The hook is that Yoshi jumps into the pages of a talking encyclopedia named Mr. E and discovers creatures inside the book’s worlds. Nintendo’s pages pitch it as a discovery-driven adventure rather than a straight run-right platformer, which gives the summer slate some tonal variety next to a shooter like Star Fox. ### And Splatoon Raiders? (nintendo.com) That one looks like Nintendo trying to stretch Splatoon into a broader franchise. It’s being billed as the first Splatoon spinoff game, with Deep Cut joining a treasure-hunting adventure across the Spirhalite Islands. Players raid islands, salvage loot, and fight Salmonids, and Nintendo’s store page says it can be played solo or online. ### Is there more beyond summer? Yes — but the farther out you go, the fuzzier it gets. (nintendo.com) Nintendo’s release schedule pages list Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave in 2026 without a date, and Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves in 2027. There’s also a note that some names are provisional and dates can change, which is Nintendo’s way of saying the roadmap exists, but the pins aren’t all in the map yet. ### Why does this matter now? Because Nintendo also said this week that the U.S. MSRP for Switch 2 will rise on September 1, 2026. (nintendo.com) When a console gets more expensive, the software calendar matters even more — buyers want a reason to jump in now rather than wait. A May-to-July run of Yoshi, Star Fox, and Splatoon Raiders gives Nintendo a cleaner answer than “more games later.” ### So what’s the real takeaway? Basically, this is Nintendo moving Switch 2 out of the promise phase and into the scheduling phase. Yoshi on May 21, Star Fox on June 25, Splatoon Raiders on July 23 — that’s three first-party beats in about nine weeks. (nintendo.com) For a new console, that rhythm is the point. (nintendo.com 1) (nintendo.com 2)