Developer Playtonic Games has officially announced the release date for the Nintendo Switch version of it’s beloved platformer Yooka-Laylee. The spiritual successor to Banjoe-Kazooie will be coming to the hybrid console on December 14. The game was initially announced for the Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC, and the Wii U, but the Wii U version was canceled due to “unforeseen technical issues” so changes were made so that the game would be developed for Nintendo’s new console the Switch.
The game had been confirmed to be coming to the Switch back in February, and was given a release of sometime within the year but no window or concrete date was revealed until now. Within the summer Playtonic Games only stated that they hope to share more news on the port “soon.” The developer wrote on their official website “The Playtonic team has spent many, many months optimizing Yooka-Laylee for Nintendo Switch (with technical help and support from Nintendo and Unity themselves!) and we believe we’re delivering a version Nintendo fans can be proud of.”
The game was updated in May with a huge update that made it more suitable for speedrunners and adjusted certain aspects such as the camera system as well as controls. The Switch version of the game will include all of those improvements and bug fixes applied within the game’s big May update, feature a custom achievements system, and will allow players to play all eight multiplayer mini-games with only a single Joy-Con. Players will be able to pre-purchase Yooka-Laylee through the Nintendo Switch Eshop starting on December 7.