Nintendo closed a recent Direct showcase with the reveal of Kirby and the World Beyond, a new entry in the 34-year-old Kirby series coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in spring 2027. The trailer showed a vibrant, colorful world consistent with the franchise's usual aesthetic, with Kirby running through green pastures, leaping across logs, and crossing bridges.
Multiple outlets noted that the game appears to be open-world, marking a first for the series. The trailer emphasized the ability to "freely explore," building on the more open areas introduced in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which launched in 2022 as the series' first fully 3D entry. Kirby and the World Beyond is described as taking that approach further with a larger, more non-linear space to explore, taking advantage of the Switch 2 hardware.
Gameplay shown includes Kirby's usual ability to suck up enemies and gain new powers for combat and traversal, including a returning Sword Copy ability resembling the Master Sword, which lets Kirby charge and ascend vertically. King Dedede appears as a boss, whom Kirby knocks through a wall in a Truman Show-style moment that reveals a boundary to the game's world.
In the trailer's second half, a mysterious purple magical figure appears to Kirby and shows him a large magical sword. Kirby uses this upgraded weapon—compared to a buffed-up Master Sword with abilities similar to Tears of the Kingdom, including chopping down trees to open new paths—to smash open the sky itself. Beyond it lies what looks like a continuation of Kirby's own world, featuring a mysterious structure in the sky and what appears to be a mechanical giant snake. One outlet speculated, based on past Kirby games, that the purple figure could turn out to be the game's villain, though this remains unconfirmed.
Kirby and the World Beyond will be the first major new Kirby game since Kirby and the Forgotten Land, following smaller releases like Kirby's Dream Buffet in 2022 and Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe in 2023. Its release coincides with Kirby's 35th anniversary in 2027, which Nintendo is reportedly planning to celebrate further. Pre-orders for the game have opened on the Nintendo Store.