Will it release prior to 2024? Probably. People are already losing interest in the war in Ukraine and there is likely to be a significant lull in the fighting at some point relatively soon while the sides rearm. There has been a low-key war going in Ukraine for a long time (over 10,000 people had died in the fighting prior to the full scale invasion) and it's not like war media is just going to stop. Call of Duty will keep on coming out, movies and books and other games too.

The big problem with Advance Wars was that there was a general who was based on Soviet Union/Russia and that was seen as cutesifying a real conflict. I could see them removing that general and replacing it with something else less controversial, which would take some work but not a massive amount.

Advance Wars isn't exactly a tech showcase so it's something of an evergreen title. I'd imagine that Nintendo doesn't mind delaying it and as long as Wayforward got paid already I would assume they're okay with it too. At some point there will be a hole to plug in the schedule and Nintendo will slot it in. But they could probably delay it as long as they want and still have it sell as well as it would have.

I don't see how it could come out on a non-Nintendo platform. I believe it's a Nintendo IP. They'd be more likely to just kill the project altogether than let it come out on PlayStation or whatever. Mayyyyybe IOS and Android, because they do dabble with those, but then it would need to be retooled for microtransactions.

Before 2024? Absolutely. This year? That's harder.

I sure AF hope it's this year. This is a strategy game that looks like a cartoon. How is this being insensitive? My family emigrated to the US awhile back and I am proud of my Ukrainian heritage, and I certainly do not think it's hurtful to just release it now. Been waiting years for Advance Wars to come to the Switch. Just release it already.

So I guess this game is going to be shared between the Nintendo Switch & its successor.

Nah, 2025 on the Super Switch.

Best Buy is apparently now telling people that this is slated for 2026, and I remembered I posted this poll here so I'm gonna bring it back and see that tips things back the other way for anyone. It seems like Best Buy is also reaching out to anyone who pre-ordered to let them know they were "made aware" of the release date change.

For what it's worth, Amazon still has it listed as a December 2023 release, and Gamestop has it as a December 2024 release. The Nintendo shop still has it as TBD.

Hope springs eternal.

Has there been a case where a game was finished and shown but never had a formal cancellation? Just quietly drifted away? I would think Wayforward would be trying to get Nintendo to get the game out some way.

@propagandapanda: The only example I can think of is Star Fox 2.

Star Fox 2 was canceled in mid-1995, when it was about 95% complete. Nintendo still wanted the game finished after cancellation, so took it through full localization and QA testing. Cuthbert said there may have been no official announcement of cancellation, and there was confusion about the game's status in the media. The August issue of Game Pro printed that it had been delayed to 1996, while Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote that had been canceled in their September issue. Nintendo Power wrote in their September issue that "rumors of the demise of Star Fox 2 have been greatly exaggerated", with a release most likely coming in the first half of 1996.

Wikipedia

There have been other games that were cancelled despite being finished, but I think they mostly were given a proper announcement. The only interesting case I ran into was NBA Elite 11 being cancelled so late into development that copies of it managed to get put on shelves and bought by consumers post-cancellation.