A Halloween event in Kirby Air Riders has come to an end much earlier than expected following technical issues in the Nintendo Switch 2 game. Released last year, Kirby Air Riders is the latest game from director Masahiro Sakurai. Sakurai is best known for his work on the Super Smash Bros. series, but the director surprised fans with the decision to return for a follow-up to his GameCube game, Kirby Air Ride.
Following the conclusion of development on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Sakurai claimed that he was “semi-retired.” That left a lot of fans anxious about the future of the fighting game series, and Sakurai’s return to work on Kirby Air Riders came as a big surprise. More than a year into the Switch 2’s lifespan, Nintendo has yet to make any announcements about the next Super Smash Bros. game. Prior to the game’s launch, Sakurai made it clear that Kirby Air Riders would not see significant DLC offered. That hasn’t stopped Nintendo from hosting in-game events to keep people invested, and it also suggests that the director could be working on something else at the moment.
Why Nintendo Ended the Kirby Air Riders Halloween Event Early
In a post on Twitter, Nintendo announced plans to end a Kirby Air Riders Halloween event much earlier than expected. Performance issues are to blame for the cancelation, as players were encountering issues where the screen would freeze during gameplay. The event was originally intended to run from October 28 through November 4, ending about a week before the final wave of Kirby Air Riders amiibo are set to be released. The game’s main menu and paddock were given a Halloween makeover, and players had the opportunity to obtain exclusive new cosmetics and bonuses. Nintendo has confirmed that the event will return at some point, but the company has offered no further details.
Multiplayer in Kirby Air Riders quickly gets frantic, and it seems that the game was struggling to keep up with the chaos unleashed in the Halloween event. Before Nintendo pulled the plug, many players shared their frustrations on social media, alongside videos showcasing the performance issues. In most cases, the player’s screen froze while normal gameplay continued for others. It’s no surprise Nintendo decided to pull the plug early, but it should prove frustrating for anyone that had already put in significant effort to obtain the exclusives tied to the event.
It’s possible Nintendo could get the situation resolved quickly, but it seems more likely that the Trick or Treat event in Kirby Air Riders won’t return until sometime after Halloween. That might hurt some of the appeal of unlocking items like Ghost headwear, but there’s no reason players can’t continue wearing these types of cosmetics after October comes to an end.
Despite some hiccups with the Halloween event, the Switch 2 era is off to a strong start for fans of the Kirby series. While 2026 has not seen any new games in the series, Kirby Air Riders and a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Kirby and the Forgotten Land were both released in 2025. Nintendo has another major game planned for the series next year, as Kirby and the World Beyond arrives in 2027. The game seems to feature an open world, where Kirby’s Copy Abilities will help with exploration.
- Released
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November 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
