After a year of fans clamoring for their release, Monolith Soft’s standout Xenoblade Chronicles franchise is finally getting official Nintendo Switch 2 versions this year. The Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy has been heralded as one of the best JRPG franchises on the Nintendo Switch, lauded for its emotional storytelling, incredible characters, and breathtaking worlds packed into a handheld device.
With its first release on the Wii in 2010, Xenoblade Chronicles became a huge hit among JRPG fans, especially those who were once fond of the Xenosaga and Xenogears games of decades past. Monolift Soft eventually capitalized on the popularity of the first game with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in 2017 and Chronicles 3 in 2022, with the latter being widely praised as one of the best JRPGs of that year, if not of the decade. With the release of the Switch 2, fans of the series have been waiting and hoping that the trilogy will get an upgrade soon, following some modest gains with the Switch 2’s boost mode.
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The Entire Xenoblade Chronicles Trilogy Is Coming to Nintendo Switch 2 This Year
During the Nintendo Direct for June 9, 2026, Monolith Soft gave fans what they have been asking to see for a long time: official Switch 2 ports of the whole Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy. All three games will now run at 4K, 60 fps in docked mode, while portable mode will run at a still-impressive 1080p, 60 fps. However, the Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy isn’t just getting an upscale. Monolith Soft has also gone ahead and reworked textures and cutscenes for all three games to better suit higher resolutions, now that the trilogy has shed its previous 720p parameters. The whole Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy will be available this year, with Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition launching first on the Nintendo eShop on June 9.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be available digitally on July 30, 2026, while fans will have to wait until December 3 for the digital release of Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Each game will be priced at $69.99 USD for the digital editions, though existing owners of the original Switch 2 versions of the games will be able to upgrade for just $9.99 USD. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the upgrades will be available to existing Nintendo Switch Online subscribers for free, as was the case with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
Lastly, all three Xenoblade Chronicles games will be available physically as well, with the first game launching its physical copy on July 30, 2026, Chronicles 2 launching on October 1, and the third game receiving its physical version day-and-date with the digital edition on December 3. And if that wasn’t enough Xenoblade content to satiate fans, Monolith Soft has also announced Xenoblade Genesis launching in 2027. Details about the next entry in the series are scarce, but it looks like a massive game for the series.
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The Nintendo Direct for June 9 was also filled with way more JRPG content outside of the realm of Xenoblade. Switch 2 owners just got a first look at Kingdom Hearts 4‘s gameplay, along with news of full ports of the Kingdom Hearts trilogy on the way and also Final Fantasy Resonance, the first HD-2D game in the series, bringing Final Fantasy back to its pixel art roots. Nintendo Switch 2 owners will have plenty of JRPG games to dive into for the next year, without a doubt.
- Released
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September 10, 2010
- ESRB
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T For Teen // Blood, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
- Franchise
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Xenoblade Chronicles
