Following the initial announcement of Kirby Air Riders during April 2’s Nintendo Direct, director Masahiro Sakurai has shared new information about the title’s development team.
In an announcement on X, Sakurai comments, “Just like Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS and Ultimate, the recently announced Kirby Air Riders game is also being developed by Bandai Namco Studios.”
Kirby Air Riders is a long-awaited sequel to 2003’s Kirby Air Ride. The original GameCube racing game was developed by HAL Laboratory, with Sakurai at the helm as director. On the other hand, it seems the sequel’s development is being handled by Bandai Namco Studios.
Apart from being involved in original Bandai Namco IPs like Tekken, Bandai Namco Studios has done development work for a number of Nintendo titles, including Super Smash. Bros, Super Smash. Bros Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Projects for Nintendo are generally handled by Bandai Namco Studios’ Studio 2/Studio S, so it’s likely that the same team will be working on Kirby Air Riders.
Sakurai comments that “the full staff is giving their all in developing the game, but it will take some time before we can share more information,” asking fans to stay tuned.
Kirby Air Riders is scheduled to launch in 2025 as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive.
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