Chibi-Robois among one of Nintendo’s most niche franchises, but a devoted fanbase continues to exist many years after the original release on Nintendo GameCube. The status of the franchise remains shrouded in mystery, leaving fans to wonder about the future ofChibi-Robo.Chibi-Robodirector Kenichi Nishi shed some light about the series and its future in a new interview at Time Extension.
Many of game’s original staff no longer work at Skip Ltd, which is the development studio behind theChibi-Roboseries. During development of the original GameCube entry, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto served as producer and helped keep the project alive until the full launch. Various sequels would spawn on Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS, but the series did not capture adequate sales and commercial success to continue afterthe release ofChibi-Robo: Zip Lashin 2015. Since then, various developers from Skip moved on to pursue other ventures in the gaming industry.
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Kenichi Nishi founded Skip, but he was working on a separate project for quite some time during his tenure at the company. Most of the staff have moved on to other companies in the gaming industry, but some remaining staff is still working directly with him. Nishi’s relationship with former employees is amicable, and he still sees some of them sporadically. The developer believes the staff wanted to pursue work and opportunities outside of Skip, leading to many of the originalChibi-Robodevelopers leaving together.
Nishi admits that he doesn’t know ifChibi-Robowill ever return with a new game. However, Nishi is interested in making a sequel if the timing and opportunity is right. The developer continues to be fascinated withtheChibi-Robocharacterto this day, but there’s nothing currently in the works for theChibi-Roboseries. For the foreseeable future,Chibi-Roboappears to be a dormant Nintendo series.
Chibi-Robonever received the commercial success compared to prominent Nintendo franchises such asKirby,The Legend of Zelda, andSuper Mario. AlthoughChibi-Robofor Nintendo GameCube was generally well-received by players and reviewers, the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS successors did not recapture the essence of the original. As a result, sales for each subsequent title waned until Nintendo deemed the series would not continue further.
Fortunately, Nishi is still optimistic aboutChibi-Roboand hopes the series returns someday.Chibi-Roboappears unlikely to receive a sequel for Nintendo Switch, but the possibility remains for classic Nintendo games to return. Titles such asAdvance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Campshows that Nintendo may consider reviving classic franchises if the opportunity is right.
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