In an unexpected turn of events, Disney Tsum Tsum Festival will cross the Pacific and arrive in North America this November.
Last week, we found out that Nintendo is bringing Disney Tsum Tsum Festival over to the Switch in a new bundle that includes a Disney-themed hybrid console. Tsum Tsum is a Japanese brand of cute toys and mobile games, so when we didn’t hear about any worldwide release, we assumed that the game would remain in Japan.
Now, however, Bandai Namco has announced that its specific brand of cutesy Disney characters is coming to America after all. It even gave us a date: November 8, 2019.
Disney Tsum Tsum Festival was originally a mobile game released on iOS and Android that allowed you to play quick minigames with other players online. The Switch port seems to be adding a lot to the Tsum Tsum formula, including better graphics, more minigames, and some additional animations.
A new trailer details many of the games available in Disney Tsum Tsum Festival, such as Tsum Curling, Ice Cream Stacker, Tsum Chase (which is basically Pac Man), Egg Pack Coaster, Spinner Battle, and more. Just like Mario Party, certain minigames will require the Joy-Con’s hardware to function, so you won’t be able to play the game with the pro controller or with the recently announced Switch Lite.
As for the Disney Tsum Tsum Switch, that seems to still be a Japan-only release. The bundle contains both the Tsum Tsum Festival game, as well as one of the newly revised versions of the Switch with longer battery life. It also has one pink and one purple Joy-Con, with Mickey’s silhouette replacing the home button. Tsum Tsum logos and iconography cover both the Switch itself as well as the charging station.
The Disney Tsum Tsum Festival Switch bundle will be released in Japan on October 10th, while the game will be out in North America on November 8th. We’ll have to wait for another surprise announcement from Bandai Namco about the possibility of the Switch bundle coming to America.