Nintendo reveals new Fire Emblem games for Switch, 3DS, and mobile

Nintendo has promoted Fire Emblem to core franchise status.

The tactical role-playing game series has been around since 1990 (although the U.S. didn’t see a Fire Emblem game until 2003), but it’s always felt like one of Nintendo’s more niche offerings. But after the success the franchise has had on 3DS with Fire Emblem: Awakening and Fire Emblem: Fates both selling over a million copies each, Nintendo has a lot of faith in the series these days, making it one of its most prominent franchises. That would explain why it dedicated a whole Nintendo Direct stream today revealing new Fire Emblem titles for a multitude of platforms, including Nintendo’s young mobile business.

“In recent years, the popularity of the Fire Emblem franchise has grown exponentially,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, in a press release sent to GamesBeat. “The devoted fan base and series newcomers alike will soon have an abundance of new games to play on a variety of devices. There’s never been a better time to be a Fire Emblem fan or jump in for the first time.”

The livestream revealed Fire Emblem: Heroes, the series’ first installment for mobile. A trailer showed characters from past games like Fire Emblem: Awakening and Fire Emblem: Fates, but Heroes will feature an original story. The game retains the franchise’s familiar grid-based, turn-based combat and will enable you to fight against other players. It will be a free app with in-game purchases, unlike Super Mario Run (which costs $10). Heroes comes out for Android devices on February 2, although the game’s site does not give an iOS release date.

Nintendo also announced Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia for the 3DS, which comes out on May 19. It is remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, the franchise’s second game, which released for the Famicom (known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the U.S.) only in Japan in 1992.

The livestream also briefly mentioned that a new Fire Emblem game is coming to the Switch although Nintendo didn’t reveal any details other than that it will release in 2018. It will be the series’ first entry on consoles since 2007’s Radiant Dawn for the Wii.

We also saw more of Fire Emblem Warriors, the Fire Emblem/Dynasty Warriors cross-over that’s coming to Switch in fall 2017. The stream revealed that it will also release for New Nintendo 3DS systems.