Rhythm Heaven Groove, my most anticipated game of the year, is finally launching in July, over a decade since I spent countless hours in Nintendo's last incredible instalment

Nintendo has confirmed after over a year of silence that Rhythm Heaven Groove will finally be released on July 2, 2026.

Back at the March 2025 Nintendo Direct – which aired a week before the big Nintendo Switch 2 reveal Direct – Nintendo finally announced that two long-suffering fandoms would finally be getting sequels. First was Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, which since then has had an appearance in the September Nintendo Direct, its own dedicated Direct, a demo, and a release date later this month. The other – and more important – announcement was that Rhythm Heaven (or Rhythm Paradise for Europe) is finally getting a new game with Rhythm Heaven Groove. And since that Direct, we’ve had… uhh…