Pikmin Day Is Now Annual: Nintendo Promises Monthly Shorts and a Nov. 12 Pikmin 4 Launch

Nintendo has declared November 1 to be Pikmin Day, an annual celebration of its tiny plant-creature franchise, and marked the occasion with a surprise video presentation on Halloween. Hosted by Shigeru Miyamoto, the broadcast offered no Pikmin 5 and no blockbuster reveal. It did lay out a fairly clear plan for how Nintendo wants to keep the series in the spotlight.

Why November 1?

The date does not match any release anniversary. The first game reached Japan in October 2001 and North America that December. According to Miyamoto, the choice comes down to the look of the numbers. Early Pikmin came in only three colors, red, yellow and blue, and when the three stand side by side they resemble “11.1.” The franchise is now 25 years old, so the timing also works as a quiet birthday nod.

IGN described the length as a little more than nine minutes, while Polygon called it a brief video. Either way, it was a small showcase. Miyamoto said that “going forward, I want people to know more about Pikmin,” which suggests Pikmin Day is meant as the start of a longer push rather than a one-off.

Hello! Pikmin brings monthly animated shorts

The biggest new item was a project called Hello! Pikmin, which Miyamoto is making with Nintendo Pictures. The sample short shows a red Pikmin sneaking up on what looks like a sleeping toad to steal a worn baseball. The toad is awake, and hungry, which does not bode well for the Pikmin.

Nintendo plans to release new shorts through the Nintendo Today app and other channels, aiming for roughly one per month in the near future. Animation is familiar territory for the franchise. Nintendo Pictures released a Pikmin short called “Close to You” a year ago, and Miyamoto’s team made a trio of Pikmin animations back in 2014.

Pikmin 4 on Switch 2 gets a demo

The most concrete news for players concerns Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy, due November 12, 2026. A free demo arrives November 2, and save data will carry over to the full game. The demo covers the Sun-Speckled Terrace opening area and two Dandori Academy stages.

The Switch 2 version adds voice control. Using the console’s built-in microphone, players can give Oatchi commands such as “rush” and “go to work.” Dandori Academy, the new challenge mode, centers on timed tasks where players try to earn medals by optimizing their strategies. Limited-time exams will arrive every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with leaderboards for competition. Polygon reports that 72 Dandori Academy stages will be released over time.

Secret Caves head to Pikmin Bloom

The mobile game Pikmin Bloom, which launched in 2021, gets a new feature this winter. Secret Caves are battle-focused exploration events in which players send their Pikmin into caves to fight creatures and find treasure. A teaser showed a squad taking on a Bulborb. Treasures shown included a rubber duck, a sword, a cookie and a chef hat, and they will form a new in-game collection.

Entering a cave requires a map. Maps can be found through things like in-game postcards, and Polygon adds that they can also be earned by playing the Dandori Academy challenges in the Switch 2 edition. That link between console and phone is one of the few moments in the showcase where Nintendo ties its Pikmin products together.

A famous fan joins as spokesperson

Nintendo also named Japanese actor Fuka Koshiba as a spokesperson for the franchise, in order to “build more excitement about Pikmin going forward,” per Miyamoto. Koshiba is known for knitting Pikmin-themed headwear in her spare time.

Taken together, the announcements point to a strategy of steady, low-key exposure: a yearly holiday, a monthly video, weekly in-game exams and a seasonal mobile update. Whether that builds toward a new mainline game is something Nintendo has not said. For now, the first Pikmin Day is a reminder that the franchise has more going on than its occasional new releases suggest.

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