One of Nintendo Switch 2’s Biggest Games of 2025 Is Already Losing Support

One of the biggest exclusives that has launched on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025 is about to lose support in the near future. Generally speaking, most video games that launch nowadays on Nintendo platforms or elsewhere tend to receive many patches that come about in the weeks, months, or even years after their initial release. Mario Kart World is a great example of this, as the Switch 2 racer has already gotten countless post-launch updates since arriving in June and will surely continue to receive more in 2026 and beyond. And while this is the trajectory that most games tend to follow, it won’t hold true for a rather high-profile exclusive from Nintendo.

The Switch 2 game in question that’s about to reach the end of its post-launch support is that of Kirby Air Riders. The long-awaited sequel to the Nintendo GameCube game Kirby Air Ride launched last month on November 20th and, for the most part, has been quite well-received by fans. Despite this, the game’s director previously made clear that there would be no DLC for Kirby Air Riders that would come about after its release. Now, this limited post-launch support is known to also extend to future updates for the game.

In a recent post on social media, Kirby Air Riders director Masahiro Sakurai said that the development team behind the game is preparing to disband. Prior to doing so, though, a handful of additional updates for Air Riders will go live that will look to make the game as balanced as possible for those who play it in the years to come. Once these updates are released, though, this will be all that will be done with Kirby Air Riders for good.

“As discussed in Air Riders Direct 2, Kirby Air Riders does not have a production setup for DLC or anything like that. The team will be disbanding in the near future,” Sakurai said. “Therefore, while we still have a short period of time to make adjustments, we’re aiming for a balance that can be enjoyed without issues even years from now. We might be able to tweak it one more time or so, but after that, please enjoy it as the completed balance!”

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While Sakurai had tried to prepare fans accordingly ahead of time, it’s still quite surprising to see Kirby Air Riders already losing support in this manner. Balance patches, in particular, seemed like something that Air Riders would receive quite a few of as the team behind the game worked with players to find what they did and didn’t like. Instead, work on Air Riders seems like it will be completely wrapped up in mere weeks and will never be touched again.

Moving forward, it’s not yet known what Sakurai will end up doing next. As the longtime director of the Super Smash Bros. series, many fans are surely hoping that he will return to the franchise to develop a new entry on Switch 2. Sakurai himself previously made clear, however, that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was more or less planned to be the end of his own work on the property. Whether or not he goes back on his word by returning to Smash in the future is something that we will now have to wait to see.

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