Despite a competitive year for gaming, several Switch games managed to take home awards.

The annual Game Awards, hosted by Geoff Keighley were held yesterday. Baldur’s Gate 3 won the Game of the Year award, beating out two Nintendo games: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Despite this, the near-seven year old Nintendo Switch managed to have games that were worthy of recognition.

The critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom received the award for “Best Action/Adventure Game”, beating out Alan Wake 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4 Remake, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Sea of Stars, the new game from the developer behind The Messenger received the award for “Best Independent Game”, beating out Cocoon, Dave the Diver, Dredge, and Viewfinder.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the first new 2D Mario in 11 years, won the award for “Best Family Game”, beating out Disney Illusion Island, Party Animals, Pikmin 4, and Sonic Superstars.

Pikmin 4 received the award for Best Sim/Strategy, beating out Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, Cities: Skylines II, Company of Heroes 3, and Fire Emblem Engage. This marks the first time a game in the Pikmin series has received a notable industry award.

Last but not least Cocoon, the new IP published by Annapurna Interactive was awarded with “Best Debut Indie”, beating out Dredge, Pizza Tower, Venba, and Viewfinder.

Full list of winners can be found here.

The classic GTA-style open world game set in the Wild West will be arriving on Switch very soon.

Early this morning, Rockstar Games announced that they would be re-releasing their 2010 Wild West action-adventure game, Red Dead Redemption to a modern era which includes the Nintendo Switch. The game is the predecessor to 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2. The story follows a former outlaw, named John Marston who must travel the American West and Mexico to eliminate the last of an infamous gang of outlaws in order to save his family.

Alongside the main campaign, the zombie-filled story expansion, Undead Nightmare is also included. It should be noted that online multiplayer is not included. This re-release will be handled by Double Eleven Studios, a studio which has been credited as support on many games including Switch games like Minecraft Dungeons and Songbringer.

Red Dead Redemption will be releasing for Nintendo Switch on August 17 at the price of $49.99. The physical release will be arriving on October 13. It will be the third game from Rockstar Games to hit the Nintendo Switch, following 2021’s GTA: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition and 2017’s L.A. Noire.

Even though Elden Ring won Game of the Year, five Nintendo Switch exclusives managed to take home an award.

Kirby & The Forgotten Land won Best Family Game and was nominated against Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Nintendo Switch Sports, and Splatoon 3. This marks the first time Kirby has received a Game Award.

CONGRATS to Kirby and the Forgotten Land, it just won Best Family Game! @NintendoAmerica @HAL_Laboratory #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/ZZh3JYeil6

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 9, 2022

Bayonetta 3 won Best Action Game and was nominated against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Neon White, Sifu, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

This year’s winner for Best Action Game is Bayonetta 3, congrats on taking home the win! @platinumgames #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/XrCRHzWS9k

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 9, 2022

Splatoon 3 won Best Multiplayer Game and was nominated against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, MultiVersus, Overwatch 2, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. This is not the first time a Splatoon game won at The Game Awards since the first Splatoon had won the awards for both Best Multiplayer AND Best Shooter back in 2015.

Congratulations to the Best Multiplayer Game of 2022, Splatoon 3! @splatoonNA @NintendoAmerica #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/w7QUtHB9UR

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 9, 2022

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope won Best Sim/Strategy and was nominated against Dune: Spice Wars, Total War: WARHAMMER III, Two Point Campus, and Victoria 3.

Huge congrats to Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope on their Best Sim/Strategy Game win! @mariorabbids @ubisoft #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/wQ6eIgCrM5

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 9, 2022

Finally, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom won Most Anticipated Game and was nominated against Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, and Starfield.

Congrats to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for winning Most Anticipated Game of the Year! @NintendoAmerica #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/TCRWdTh5Hj

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 9, 2022

Another Switch exclusive, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was nominated for Game of the Year, Best Score/Music, and Best Role Playing Game; however, it went home empty. It lost to Elden Ring for the GOTY and RPG categories and God of War: Ragnarok for the Best Score/Music category. Regardless, Nintendo Switch had a lot more wins this year when compared to last year’s awards.

The full list of winners can be found here.

Looks like the best-selling first-person shooter franchise will be making a return to Nintendo platforms.

In the wake of legal pushback from the FTC, Sony, and regulators from around the world, Microsoft Corp. has added an interesting stipulation to their 69 billion dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Once the deal goes through, Microsoft not only promises to keep Call of Duty on its current platforms, but also bring it to the Nintendo platform in some form.

Phil Spencer, head executive of the Xbox brand and the CEO of Microsoft Gaming announced the news via Twitter:

Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to @Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King.  Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play. @ATVI_AB

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 7, 2022

Microsoft shocked the world with this $68.7 billion acquisition earlier this year. Since then, the company continues to reiterate their promise of keeping the successful FPS series on competing platforms. It is unknown what form Call of Duty will take on Switch since it could be remasters of older titles or simply porting COD Mobile. Interestingly, no Nintendo platform is specifically mentioned. It is also unknown when the 10-year commitment will begin; however, the buyout is expected to finish in March 2023. The last Call of Duty to be on a Nintendo platform was 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts on Wii U.

Are you excited for Call of Duty to come back to Nintendo? Comment down below!

For the first time, two older, but beloved Persona games will be available on a Nintendo platform in the beginning of next year.

Back in June, the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase revealed that the mainline Persona games would finally be on Switch. Persona 5 Royal was announced to be releasing on October 21 while Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden would release in 2023. The latter two games finally have a release date of January 19. The news was announced via a tweet after the Persona Super Live 2022 concert:

Special Announcement!

Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden release for modern platforms on January 19, 2023! #P3P #P4G pic.twitter.com/OrAx46j8XG

— Official ATLUS West (@Atlus_West) October 8, 2022

While the tweet shows Microsoft platforms, it also states “modern platforms” which most likely includes Switch. Persona 3 Portable originally released for PSP in 2010 and is a enhanced port of the PS2 2007 Persona 3 game while Persona 4 Golden originally released for PS Vita and is a enhanced port of the PS2 2008 Persona 4 game.

How excited are you for classic Persona games releasing on Switch? Comment down below!