Nintendo announced Kirby and the World Beyond on September 9, 2026, during a Nintendo Direct broadcast. The reveal confirmed a new 3D platformer starring Kirby for Nintendo Switch 2, arriving in spring 2027 as part of Kirby’s 35th anniversary celebrations.
Kirby debuted in Kirby’s Dream Land in 1992, making 2027 the character’s 35th anniversary. Nintendo has used past anniversaries to launch major entries in its franchises. Kirby and the World Beyond appears to be filling that role this time, arriving as the celebration’s headline release rather than a smaller spin-off.
Kirby and the World Beyond lets players roam the game’s world freely, using Kirby’s signature copy abilities to interact with the environment. Nintendo has not detailed every ability shown in the footage, but the open structure follows the format the series introduced in its most recent mainline entry.
What the reveal trailer shows
The trailer opens with Kirby running through a field, climbing trees and pulling off copy abilities familiar from earlier games. Partway through, he gains a large sword power-up. He uses it to slice a hole in the sky, then pulls that hole down like a collapsing wall, revealing an expansive, unfamiliar landscape behind it.
That wall-like sky segment stands out as the trailer’s central image, and it gives the game its title. The land uncovered behind it is presumably the World Beyond referenced in the name. Nintendo did not show any other characters, enemies, or bosses tied to that area in the footage released so far.
Nintendo did not share a full release date, story details, or word on additional playable characters. Spring 2027 is the only timing confirmed so far, and the reveal arrived alongside other announcements in the same Nintendo Direct broadcast.
Kirby and the World Beyond follows the series’ first 3D outing
Kirby and the World Beyond will be only the second mainline Kirby platformer built entirely in 3D. The first, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, launched on the original Switch in 2022. VGC’s review of Forgotten Land praised its creativity at the time: “The platforming won’t give Mario any restless nights, but the exuberant creativity around it makes for a bold, buoyant adventure.”
Forgotten Land later received a Switch 2 upgrade, released in August 2025 as Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World. That version raised the frame rate from 30fps to 60fps, sharpened the resolution and added 12 new stages for $20. Reviewers described the extra content as modest but worth the price.
Kirby and the World Beyond is a full sequel rather than another remaster. Its spring 2027 window puts it roughly five years after Forgotten Land’s original release. Nintendo has not said whether the new game will carry over Forgotten Land’s multiplayer hub, Merry Magoland. It also has not explained how the World Beyond setting connects to earlier entries in the series.