Creator Dan Fornace has confirmed that his indie Smash Bros.-style brawler, Rivals of Aether, will be released on the Nintendo Switch. Rivals of Aether originally came out in 2015 for Windows and Xbox One and found a dedicated audience for its pixel art style and unique twist on the classic Smash formula.
A Switch version of Rivals of Aether was first discussed back in January, when Fornace explained in a lengthy Medium post about the game's development and goings-on in the competitive Rivals of Aether scene that a Switch port was being prioritized as first among a few potential platforms. Rivals of Aether was created in Game Maker Studio, which cannot export games to the Switch on its own, requiring Fornace to work with team capable of developing a brand new port, which is understandably a lengthy process.
Super Smash Con, an event earlier this month centered around tournaments for every single Smash Bros. game, also hosted a competitive Rivals of Aether tournament, in which a number of Smash players competed. It was at Super Smash Con that the first sign of a Switch port was spotted, on a banner attached to the con's Rivals of Aether booth, which featured a Switch logo between Steam and Xbox icons. Fornace tweeted the image himself as a preview of the official confirmation to come.
Later on, Super Smash Con aired a video message from Fornace confirming the Switch version of the game. The video announcement also outlined a number of multiplayer updates coming to the game, including support for four players online, allowing for both 2v2 and free for all battles, as well as the addition of spectator slots to both two and four player matches.
This comes on the heels of a recent announcement of Steam Workshop support for Rivals of Aether, allowing players to create their own custom characters on the Windows version of the game to supplement the existing 14 character roster. No further details are known about the Switch port, so keep an eye out for an official release date down the line.