It could be a new era for Star Fox

To be fair, it's been almost a decade since we've had a new one Star Fox game, like Star Fox Zero launched on the Nintendo Wii U in April 2016. But if I'm being completely unfair, it's been almost 30 years since we had a Star Fox game worth playing, as almost every entry since then seems to have made a roll to avoid that kind of criticism Star Fox 64 served then and the legacy it upholds today. Star Fox Zero was widely considered a commercial failure and severely underperformed by selling under half a million copies worldwide, officially becoming the worst selling game in the franchise in Japan. After that, the IP went quiet, but it's the fact that it went quiet after failure that matters. Essentially, anything the franchise does now would be considered an attempt at redemption.

Whether it works out that way remains to be seen, but nonetheless it looks like Nintendo could be ushering in a new era for Star Fox with how much it seems to bet on IP. With the iconic character confirmed to appear in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and rumors of a new one Star Fox games going on, this could be more than just a one-time deal where the franchise reappears for a moment and then disappears. About the rumors about the new one Star Fox The game turns out to be true, especially as Nintendo can build momentum for a much bigger future for the space-faring dog.

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Nintendo's big bet on Star Fox may just be the beginning

With feelings like this, it's important to stay anchored in what we know for sure. At the moment the only real confirmation we have Star Fox resurgent after his decade-long hiatus is his appearance in the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy movie (voice of Glen Powell). That alone doesn't signal a total revival, but his inclusion in the film and the hype it's undoubtedly generated shows some promise for what Nintendo might be hiding behind the scenes. Plus the fact that this will be Fox McCloud's first real cinematic spotlight says something.

But the rumors that a new Star Fox game currently in the works should still be considered, especially since they happened to appear around the same time Fox was confirmed to be one of the many Nintendo characters in the game. Super Mario Galaxy movie. According to seasoned insider NateTheHate in a recent episode of his podcast on YouTube, “We're getting a new Star Fox game in the very near future” that will be made in Star Foxs “classic style” and will have “very good” graphics and even online multiplayer. At the moment it's an unconfirmed leak, but NateTheHate is generally right about these things, and maybe even more so when it comes to Nintendo stuff.

If the leak is real, though, and there really is a new one Star Fox games in development at a rapid pace with Super Mario Galaxy moviethen the probability that this is more than just fan service is high. What it suggests is that Nintendo is making a deliberate move with Star Fox IP to revive it, re-popularize it and keep it alive in a way that probably hasn't been done since Star Fox 64.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is the perfect excuse for a potential Star Fox Revival

The Nintendo Switch 2 might not have launched with many titles to make it worth getting straight away, but since its launch in June 2025, the console has received several notable titles – from Donkey Kong Banana and Pokemon Legends: ZA to Kirby Air Riders and perhaps the biggest hit of all, Pokemon Pokopia. It has also showcased its technical achievements by offering players the chance to play more demanding games such as Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, Cyberpunk 2077and Star Wars Outlaws without sweating the hardware.

As such, Nintendo has all the more reason to revive Star Fox now, as it would come at a moment when both the hardware and the company's broader strategy are finally aligned with what the franchise actually needs. For years, Star Fox has felt like a series searching for an identity, bouncing between experimentation and nostalgia without ever fully committing to either. Star Fox Zero attempted to return to the past while forcing players into a control scheme that split their attention between screens, and while critics praised its core design, the awkward execution ultimately defined the experience and held it back. If Nintendo has learned anything from that, it's this Star Fox doesn't need to be reinvented so much as it just needs to be reintroduced.

That's where the Switch 2 becomes important. If the rumored project is indeed leaning towards a “classic style” approach, modern hardware may finally allow Nintendo to deliver the fast-paced, fluid, visually impressive space combat that the series has always been built around, without the gimmicks that have weighed it down in the past. More importantly, features that online multiplayer can provide Star Fox the lifespan of which it has never fully utilized before. The series has historically thrived on replayability and score chasing, but in a modern context that kind of design can evolve into something much more sustainable if paired with competitive or co-op modes.

Star Fox doesn't need to be reinvented so much as it just needs to be reintroduced.

But what Fox McCloud's appearance in Super Mario Galaxy movie will at least do is introduce the character to a much wider audience and potentially spark an interest in him that would no doubt create the perfect excuse for Nintendo to launch a new game ostensibly aimed at rebooting the franchise. At this point, it wouldn't make sense to launch a new one Star Fox games that only appeal to veterans over 30, so let go Super Mario Galaxy moviegetting newcomers to latch on to Fox's character and then releasing a new game after that would be the best way to revive a franchise that's been dormant for the better part of a decade.

What's more though, if it's rumored Star Fox game is successful, it might not be the last players see of the IP for quite some time. All of this speculation could ultimately be down to the leak being true, but if it is, Nintendo likely isn't just trying to return to the past. Instead, all of this feels like a calculated opportunity to revisit Star Fox still has a future, and if it does, this moment may be remembered as the point where everything finally began to turn around. This could really be a new era for Star Fox.