Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has given an update to Eurogamer on his long-awaited next Pikmin project.

Speaking to me today at E3, Miyamoto did not give much away - but confirmed the project was still in development.

"I've been told not to share anything about this from PR," Miyamoto laughed, "but I can tell you it is progressing."

It's been almost exactly two years since Miyamoto first mentioned his next Pikmin game, in an interview with Eurogamer held in July 2015.

"It's actually very close to completion," Miyamoto said at the time. "Pikmin teams are always working on the next one."

Nintendo then followed up the news to Eurogamer in a separate statement:

"We can confirm that Pikmin 4 is in development but that is all we can confirm at present."

In the meantime, Pikmin fans can look forward to 3DS spin-off side-scrolling game Hey! Pikmin, which is due to launch on 28th July. It's not being made internally by Nintendo but by external developer Arzest, which also made Yoshi's New Island.

Source: Eurogamer

"very close to completion"

Maybe it was meant to release on Wii U but then decided to scrap it and port it to Switch instead? But I doubt that it would take over 2 years to port something like Pikmin.

While Pikmin is more a niche market. Glad to see the 'Hey! Pikmin' game wasn't the Pikmin that Miyamoto was talking about.

If its close to completion I expect we will see a trailer and release date within the next couple months.

Thank god he wasn't talking about Hey Pikmin after all.

Very reassuring, hope to see it next year!

This could likely be announced before E3 2018 in a direct

Well, Pikman is not exactly a gang buster of a franchise, or system seller, so even if it is done there is no rush and more of a "fill in the gap" thinking. You know release this in February when its a lul or something.

But also remember, same as Breath of the Wild, I"m sure Pikman 4 was built around the gamepad. They would have to redo many aspects of the game possibly due to removing the gamepad features. So it probably isn't as simple as a quick port.

Nintendo's E3 2018 should be lit.

They probably ported it fom WiiU to Switch and then shelved it to avoid scheduling conflics with Hey Pikmin!. If it had released as planned on the WiiU about 1,5 years ago that scheduling conflict wouldn't have been a thing, but now they had to wait until Hey Pikmin! is out of the way so that people will actually buy it and later upgrade to the Switches Pikmin 4. I fully expect them to announce Pikimin 4 either at the next direct following Hey Pikmins release or during their winter direct/game Awards.

The fact that PR told him not to talk about it is very suspicious.

Pikmin is one of Nintendo's most complex games, both visually and mechanically. But yeah, no game should require 2 years for porting.

They are likely holding it for next year because this one is extremely packed already... in the meantime they are probably just polishing and testing it. I bet the game will be super polished one it comes out. Btw, next year is looking amazing already: Yoshi, Kirby, Pokémon, Fire Emblem and possibly Pikmin 4... and we are still 6 months away of 2018! :o