Ubisoft pulled off a major surprise at E3 2018, revealing another collaboration with Nintendo in the form of a Star Fox-meets-Starlink: Battle For Atlas crossover. Starlink was initially revealed at last year's expo by the publisher, and brought a different dynamic to the toys-as-peripherals subgenre of games. In this game, the actual gameplay was certainly more of a space combat sim.
The title looked interesting in comparison to some of the other 'toys to life' titles, but nonetheless wasn't one that really hit many gamers' radars. As such, it could definitely have done with a boost by way of some kind of popular game IP getting involved, to help bolster the interest in what was in general quite an interesting premise.
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As such, Ubisoft's reveal of Star Fox appearing in the trailer for Starlink is exactly the kind of thing that the game needed. The sheer appearance of Fox McCloud immediately added a much-needed energy to the title, and will help spread Starlink to a much wider audience than it may otherwise have reached. The trailer that revealed the connection is above.
Those anticipating playing the game on something other than the Nintendo Switch and enjoying the Star Fox tie-in might be in for a rude awakening, though. Although the game is available across a variety of devices, Fox is only available as a pilot in the Nintendo Switch version of the game. This might not come as a surprise to many, of course, given how protective Nintendo is over the use of its characters in general, let alone an iconic hero such as Fox McCloud.
This isn't the only time that Ubisoft and Nintendo have managed to work together to make a surprise collaboration, either. Mario + Rabbids: Kindgom Battle was a tremendous success, putting together the Rabbids characters with Mario, Luigi et al in an XCOM-esque strategy game and creating one of the best games on the Nintendo Switch. If Starlink manages something similar, then both Nintendo and Ubisoft will be happy indeed.
It won't be long to wait before gamers can see exactly how Starlink is faring, either. Ubisoft also announced that the game would be releasing on October 16 for Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. The game's toys-as-peripherals design may limit exactly how many video game fans get involved in the title, but hopefully it will prove to be something worth picking up.