Nintendo confirms new steampunk-inspired ‘Professor Layton’ game

Nintendo has confirmed a new Professor Layton game will be coming to the Switch, six years after the release of Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle And The Millionaires’ Conspiracy.

Revealed during yesterday’s (February 8) Direct livestream, Nintendo confirmed the existence of Professor Layton And The New World Of Steam alongside a 20-second teaser trailer.

The title doesn’t have a release date. Not much has been shared about New World Of Steam but the trailer does say “a new mystery will begin” while the Nintendo Of America Twitter account confirmed that “Professor Layton is back to face new puzzles”.

It’s not yet known whether Layton’s faithful apprentice Luke Triton will return to the game, or if his children (who were introduced in previous titles) will be involved.

The announcement was something of a surprise to Professor Layton fans. After the success of the first game, Level-5 released eight further titles in ten years, all focused on solving puzzles in new environments. However, the last instalment of the series was Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle And The Millionaires’ Conspiracy, which was released in 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS.

The first Professor Layton game, And The Curious Village, was released in 2007 for the Nintendo DS, with a sequel coming the same year. The first trilogy was completed by Professor Layton And The Lost Future in 2008, before a prequel trilogy was released between 2009 and 2013.

Spin-off mobile game Layton Brothers: Mystery Room was released in 2012, the same year a crossover with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney came to the 3DS. In total, Level-5 has shipped over 17million Professor Layton games.

Elsewhere during yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, the company surprise-released a remastered version of Metroid Prime, shared a new gameplay trailer for The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom and gave Advanced Wars 1+2 a new release date.

Nintendo also confirmed a number of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles would be available on the Switch, via its expansion pack subscription service.