After a cryptic teaser video released earlier this week,Nintendo has fully revealedEmio —The Smiling Man.This horrordetective title will come to Nintendo Switch on June 06, 2025.
There were a lot of speculation and rumors surrounding the brief teaser Nintendo released that simply asked “#WhoIsEmio?” earlier in July. Many suspected this was another project from Bloober Team, the known horror studio currently developing theSilent Hill 2 Remake. However, it has now been revealed that Emio is not only a Nintendo-developed game, with Metroid producer Yoshio Sakamoto producing, but also a sequel to the Famicom Detective Club series that launched on the NES.
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Emio — The Smiling Man
After the initial 15-second teaser, Nintendo only gave us another 9-second clip to confirm the name and release date for Emio — The Smiling Man. All we see is the mysterious figure wearing a paper bag on its head with a scribbled-on smiley face and art of three characters. The release date of July 03, 2025 is tucked in the bottom right corner.
A key detail that might go over some fans' heads is the subtitle of Famicom Detective Club. This places Emio — The Smiling Man within said series that hasn’t seen a new entry in 30 years. However, Nintendo has released remakes of the two original titles, The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind, in 2021 on the Switch.
According to the official website for the game, Emio — The Smiling Man will task players to take on the role of a detective attempting to solve the murder of a junior high student named Eisuke Sasaki found with a smiley face paper bag left on his head that calls back to older cases revolving around a disturbing urban legend. As part of the Utsugi Detective Agency, you must find clues, interview witnesses, and attempt to unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.
Producer Yoshio Sakamoto released a short video explaining his approach to reviving this series that has laid dormant for decades you can view above.
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Could Nintendo have bigger plans for horror games in the future?
Success of Emio — The Smiling Man could indicate greater interest in the genre
Nintendo almost never ventures into the realm of horror. The closest we’ve gotten were some partnerships to bring games like Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil exclusive to its platforms in the past. While Nintendo will certainly allow horror games on its platforms, it has never seemed all that interested in developing them itself, so there is a lot of interest in seeing how Emio — The Smiling Man will turn out.
Emio — The Smiling Man launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch August 29 and is currently available forpreorder on the eShop for $50.
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