“HUH???”
“Did they actually… There’s no way”
“Is this really it…?”
“The Tomodachi Life guy on Twitter is going to lose his MIND”
There’s no point in burying the lede. The above is just a tiny peek into not one, but several different group chats that I’m a part of as we all reacted to the news that is Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream — the newest entry into what we can now call the Tomodachi Life series, coming to Nintendo Switch in 2026.
And living the dream is exactly what Tomodachi Life fans are doing today after that Direct!
Details are sparse, but that’s okay. The biggest detail—the fact that this game is coming at all—is confirmed and that’s all people on social media seem to care about right now. What we can expect, I think, is more of the same with plenty of innovation mixed in. Is that oxymoronic? Maybe. But what better game is there to be oxymoronic about than Tomodachi Life?
No, but in all seriousness: given that all we have is an announcement trailer, I’m not sure it’s entirely worth too much speculation as far as what’s coming. BUT, some things I do think we can reasonably expect are more customization options for Mii characters, an expansion on the interactions between Miis, and, ultimately, just more options of what you can do. In ten years and a jump to a bigger, more powerful platform than the 3DS, I think it’s only fair to say that the scope of what’s possible in Tomodachi Life — which was already pretty impressive and, of course absurd — is going to increase tenfold in the new title.
And speaking of the platform jump, I do think it’s worth noting that the graphics, animations, and visual fidelity of this new game, based on what we’ve seen, looks absolutely amazing. Tomodachi Life was never going to be the epitome of outstanding graphics, but the art direction and graphical style of the original seems to be well preserved in the new iteration. Even more, it seems that they’ve ramped the charm-level up with the world and the characters.
But only time will tell! 2026 is still a fair ways away, which means there’s probably a fair bit of development time still in store for this game. And with this game’s inevitable launch after the Switch 2’s release, there’s only so much we can assume or predict before we veer into completely unknown territory with a dual-launch and potential new features that come with the Switch 2. Will they lock interactions behind the newer console? Likely not, I’d imagine — but you never know!
It feels almost surreal to be talking about this. If I may, I’ll lift the curtain a bit and tell you that it feels like, since I joined the Nintendo Wire team nearly ten years ago, every Nintendo Direct conversation, co-stream, and group watch has involved some conversation about “do we think we’ll get another Tomodachi Life?” This game feels like it’s a long time coming, so it’s really exciting to finally get to say that the second game in the franchise, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, comes to Nintendo Switch (and maybe the Switch 2?) in 2026.
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Written by George Comatas
As a wannabe social media personality and professional in the world of sarcasm, George does his best to always adapt to the changing world around him. He considers himself a maverick: a true-to-heart gamer with the mind of a pop star. Whether this makes him revolutionary or a setback, he's yet to find out. But one thing’s for sure; he's one-of-a-kind.
