Nintendo showed a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Pikmin 4 at Nintendo Direct September 2026, paired with a new mode called Dandori Academy. It launches November 12, 2026, and pre-orders for the physical version and the upgrade pack open today on the Nintendo Store and Nintendo eShop.
The headline addition is voice control for Oatchi. The trailer shows the built-in microphone on Nintendo Switch 2 picking up spoken commands such as “rush” and “jump”, and the player can also praise Oatchi out loud after a job well done.
Dandori Academy is a set of timed stages built around collecting treasure as quickly as possible. The trailer shows a stage called Gargantuan Garden with a 5:30 limit, a map with a suggested route, and a score screen that totals the treasure collected. There are three difficulty levels, labeled Elementary, Advanced, and Graduate.
Exams run each week on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and each one allows a single attempt, so practice comes first. Medals are awarded based on performance, scores from friends and players worldwide appear on a board, and 72 stages will be released over time.
Host Yoshiaki Koizumi tried the voice commands on stage after the trailer. “Oatchi, jump,” he said, then: “Oh, you responded to my voice.” He then sent Oatchi to gather Pikmin and praised him with “good pup”. According to the end card, players who own Pikmin 4 on Nintendo Switch can upgrade by buying the upgrade pack, and the full game is required to use it.