games
Star Fox Battle Mode to Get Free Update With Four-Player Local Play
Add Gaming.net to your preferred sources on Google
Nintendo announced a free update to Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 during the Nintendo Direct presentation on September 9, 2026. Launching September 29, 2026, the update expands the game’s Battle Mode with four-player local play, three new stages, and team-based online battles from a single system, according to Nintendo of America’s announcement video.
Three New Stages
Each of the three new stages carries its own objective, as Nintendo described in the presentation. On Katina, players gain control of the platforms and activate the laser to target opponents. In Sector X, players destroy asteroids while evading destructive waves of energy. On Venom, players scan data modules as they come online, then pull back to escape the surge.
Nintendo’s official Star Fox store page likewise states that the three additional stages (Katina, Sector X, and Venom) will be available in the free update arriving September 29, and notes that an internet connection is required to download it.
Local Split-Screen and Team Online Play
Alongside the new stages, the update will let up to four players join Battle Mode locally. Nintendo of America’s video also confirmed that up to four players can form a team and join online battles on a single Nintendo Switch 2.
The store page describes the local option as battling with or against up to three friends in local split screen. Its footnote states that Local Split-Screen Battle Mode will be available in the free update coming September 29, with an internet connection and software update required to download it.
Online features in Star Fox require a Nintendo Switch Online membership, sold separately, and a Nintendo Account, according to the listing.
Star Fox on Switch 2
Ahead of the update, the listing describes Battle Mode as four-on-four team-based battles fought online with friends or players from around the world, played across three stages (Corneria, Sector Y, and Fichina), each with different rules and objectives. Stated player counts are one to two on a single system and one to eight online.
Outside Battle Mode, players can invite a friend along for the entire story campaign in co-op mode, on the same system, online, or through local GameShare.
Star Fox released on June 25, 2026, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2, with Nintendo as publisher. Nintendo describes the title as a cinematic take on the Star Fox 64 story, with new fully voiced dialogue, an orchestral soundtrack, and a complete visual overhaul. The story follows Fox McCloud and the Star Fox team as they fight to protect the Lylat System from the evil scientist Dr. Andross.
Combat puts players in the cockpit of the Arwing, the Star Fox team’s nimble all-range fighter, where they can dodge fire with barrel rolls, hit boosts for extra thrust, and lock on to targets before striking with homing lasers and bombs.
The campaign offers branching paths, and completing certain objectives can unlock a different path through the story. A Challenge Mode offers replayable missions whose cleared objectives unlock rewards such as Holoviewer logs, in-game intel files covering the cast and locations. The campaign can be played on Easy, Normal, or Expert difficulty; Easy gives the ship added durability and stronger lasers, while Expert is unlocked by earning every medal. Flight options include a classic third-person perspective, a first-person cockpit view, and missions flown with the Joy-Con 2 controllers’ mouse controls.
A free demo on the Nintendo eShop contains the game’s full tutorial along with the Meteo stage from the campaign. Tapping the Fox, Falco, or Wolf amiibo figures unlocks extra Battle Banner backgrounds and emblems for multiplayer. The store page also describes GameChat support through a compatible USB camera, including the separately sold Nintendo Switch 2 camera, letting players appear as Character Avatars or apply AR filters with accessories like Fox-style ears, sunglasses, and helmets. The listing gives the game a file size of 15.1 GB, support for TV, tabletop, and handheld play modes, and an ESRB rating of Fantasy Violence with a Users Interact notice.
Nintendo also used the September 9, 2026 Direct to announce that Star Fox Adventures would land on Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics later the same day. A separate Nintendo of America announcement video describes Fox exploring a dinosaur-filled world with Tricky.
