Nintendo recently released a new trailer announcing the latest and seemingly final update coming to Mario Strikers: Battle League, which will add two new characters to the roster, Bowser Jr. and Birdo, bringing the total number of playable characters to sixteen. The update is due out tomorrow, December 13th.
Mario Strikers Battle League launched this year and has only seen one major update. Two more characters have now been announced, plus new equipment and an additional stadium. While other Nintendo games, such as Splatoon 3, continue to receive updates, this will likely be the last major update the still-young Mario football game will get.
A new trailer confirms that Bowser Jr. and Birdo will join the roster on December 13th. Bowser Jr.’s stats make him a balanced passer, so he’s better off playing as a midfielder to set up the team’s scorer. Birdo, on the other hand, is more of a driving force, with really high shooting and tech stats that allow for powerful and accurate shots. The update will also add “Shellfish Gear,” which improves speed and technique while reducing strength.
This was confirmed as the game’s final update by Nintendo UK’s announcement on Twitter. It’s reasonable that this is the last free update since it’s the third update for the game. Although Nintendo has been known to support its recent Switch Mario sports games with free updates, these are understandably limited as microtransactions do not support them.
It’s worth noting that Nintendo UK’s tweet specified that this is the “last free update,” leaving the possibility of future paid content. Still, if Battle League follows the same trend as the Switch’s previous Mario sports title, then it’s likely it won’t be. For further context, Mario Golf: Super Rush, the Switch iteration of the Mario Golf series, was released in June 2021 and received its last update in November 2021. Similarly, Mario Strikers: Battle League was released on June 10 this year and will receive its final update this December, which marks a pattern.
The final update for Mario Strikers: Battle League will release on December 13th, 2022.
