The new Kirby and the Forgotten Land demo is a little odd, however, in that it hasn’t gotten much publicity. Nintendo easily could have announced the Forgotten Land demo during the February 2022 Nintendo Direct, but there was no mention of plans for a demo; Nintendo simply reiterated the game’s release date. While handling Forgotten Land this way is odd, one wonders if it’s a sign of what’s to come. It’s possible that Nintendo is using Forgotten Land to test a new policy of shadow dropping major content to build hype in a new way.
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The Kirby and the Forgotten Land Demo
Aside from a couple of tweets from Nintendo accounts, the Forgotten Land demo has seen minimal publicity. At the same time, Nintendo released a new trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land that provided an overview of the game’s contents, revealing new Mouthful Modes and Copy Ability upgrades along the way. The gameplay overview seems like a perfect place to advertise the demo, since fans will flock to a final overview before Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s release, but oddly enough, there’s no mention of the demo there. As far as one can tell, Nintendo simply hasn’t made advertising the demo a priority.
It’s possible that the treatment of the demo is a sign of how Nintendo will handle other properties and trailers in the future. Rather than saving most of its major announcements for Nintendo Directs and similar events, Nintendo might start shadow dropping major content. Notably, it has done so with Kirby and the Forgotten Land before, releasing a major Forgotten Land trailer in January 2022 without warning. It revealed some of Kirby’s new Copy Abilities, and more importantly, Forgotten Land’s release date. Forgotten Land may have a pattern of surprise announcements, and if that’s the case, it could be the herald of a new Nintendo model that’ll get applied to some of 2022’s other upcoming games.
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Possible Nintendo Surprises
There are lots of other Nintendo games in the works that could get similar treatment to Kirby and the Forgotten Land. As summer draws near, Nintendo might shadow drop a Splatoon 3 trailer that suddenly reveals the game’s release date, new story information, and other important details. Nintendo could also shadow drop the announcement of the rumored new Fire Emblem game, which one leaker claims will release this year. Crucial titles like the Breath of the Wild sequel and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will probably get more fanfare, but Nintendo’s other franchises might get some stealthy trailers in the near future.
Nintendo’s apparent surprise tactics when it comes to certain trailers might be valuable when it comes to 2022. It has a ton of Switch games to market this year, which is great for the console, but it’s a lot of work for Nintendo too. Rather than releasing Nintendo Directs that last an hour or more, Nintendo might decide to sprinkle trailers, demos, and other important releases throughout the year as special surprises for Switch users. Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s surprise demo should keep Switch users on their toes. In 2022, major Nintendo content could apparently appear at any moment.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land releases March 25, 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
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