Nintendo shadow drops Fire Emblem Shadows as its first new mobile game in six years

• Fire Emblem Shadows is a mobile spinoff focused on real-time combat and deduction.
• It follows Fire Emblem Heroes' success as Nintendo's only billion-dollar mobile game

Nintendo has shadow dropped its first new mobile game in six years, titled Fire Emblem Shadows.

The game marks the second Fire Emblem entry on mobile after 2017’s Fire Emblem Heroes has surpassed $1.3 billion in lifetime player spending, Nintendo’s most lucrative mobile title to date.

Like Heroes, Fire Emblem Shadows has been developed by main series dev Intelligent Systems and Nintendo’s frequent mobile partner (now of Pokémon TCG Pocket fame) DeNA.

Where Heroes serves as a scaled-down version of the core gameplay experience with its turn-based combat and grid-based movement system, Fire Emblem Shadows has been officially styled as a spinoff with an emphasis on social deduction and real-time battles.

Players must take on the role of a disciple of light or a disciple of shadow. Between each battle, they will vote for which player they think is the traitorous disciple of shadow, making the next battle easier or harder depending on their accuracy.

While the premise may be inspired by popular mobile game Among Us, the shadow variants of Fire Emblem Shadows' characters take on beast-like forms, which may be more of a nod to party game Werewolf.

Shadows’ shadow drop

A "free-to-start" title, Shadows features optional in-game purchases and has debuted with a Season Pass - required to unlock returning fan favourite character Lyn. Lyn won Fire Emblem Heroes’ first-ever popularity competition, Choose Your Legends, back in 2017, which may have influenced her selection for Shadows’ first Season Pass.

Meanwhile, another returning character, Dimitri, can be unlocked for free by progressing through the game’s story.

Shadows is the series’ first new game released since Fire Emblem Engage launched on Nintendo Switch in January 2023. It has beaten upcoming Switch 2 title Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave to the market, revealed earlier this month with a 2026 release window.

Shadows is also Nintendo’s first new mobile game since 2019’s Mario Kart Tour - not including titles from The Pokémon Company or Niantic. Over the past year, Nintendo has been testing the waters with multiple new mobile apps, including Nintendo Today and Nintendo Music.