Pikmin is a special franchise to many people, but despite its niche popularity, it’s never reached the heights of other Nintendo franchises. In total, the franchise has only sold around 8 million copies. However, Pikmin 3 Deluxe proved the franchise still had some (fruit) juice in it by selling roughly 2 million units in less than a year – a quarter of the series’ entire sales – and fans have speculated that its financial performance could dictate the future of the series and the development of Pikmin 4.
Pikmin 4 was mentioned by series creator Shigeru Miyamoto back in 2015 when he told Eurogamer that it was in development and “very close to completion.” Time passed and then Hey! Pikmin, a 2D Pikmin spinoff, was announced and then released in July of 2017, and some speculated that this was the Pikmin 4 Miyamoto was referring to back in 2015.
Now, this is certainly a possibility, especially considering we haven’t heard a peep about Pikmin 4 since 2017, but in June of that year, Miyamoto told Eurogamer that “it is progressing.”
If Hey! Pikmin was Pikmin 4, it’d be odd to say Pikmin 4 is still in the works just a month before Hey! Pikmin hit 3DS. If a game is about to come out in a month, developers don’t typically say “it is progressing” when referring to its development in the final month; the game has likely gone gold and is being further optimized and cleaned of bugs.
However, that was the last Nintendo or anyone there referred to Pikmin 4, so where it’s at today is anybody’s guess. Here’s hoping Pikmin 3 Deluxe’s 2 million units sold sends a clear message to Nintendo that fans are ready for its sequel.
Source: www.gameinformer.com