Metroid Ravenous climbed from No. 30 to No. 15 on Famitsu’s November 2026 reader chart. Here is what the vote shift says about Japan, Switch 2, and Nintendo’s slate.
Image: IGDB
Metroid Ravenous climbs into Famitsu’s top 15
Metroid Ravenous has made the sharpest move of its early public life in Japan, rising from No. 30 to No. 15 on Famitsu’s most wanted games chart for the week of November 1, 2026, as reported by Nintendo Everything. The listing puts the Nintendo Switch 2 action-adventure game at 103 votes, nearly double the 55 votes it had when it first appeared on the October 18 chart.
That is the concrete shift: a 15-place jump in Famitsu’s reader-voted rankings across two published charts, with votes in the latest chart cast between October 14 and October 20. The tension is equally clear. Metroid has often carried a different profile in Japan than Nintendo’s biggest domestic brands, yet Ravenous is now sitting in the same mid-chart cluster as Resident Evil Veronica, Persona 4 Revival on Switch 2, Stranger Than Heaven, Monster Hunter Wilds, and The Duskbloods.
Famitsu’s list is not a sales chart and it is not a preorder report. Nintendo Everything describes it as a chart of what Japanese gamers are looking forward to based on reader votes. Still, for a series whose appeal is often measured through dedicated enthusiasm rather than mass-market noise, movement from the edge of the list into the top 15 is a meaningful signal of attention.
The vote pattern shows a game escaping the margins
The October 18 Famitsu chart, also published by Nintendo Everything, marked Metroid Ravenous’ first appearance. It barely made the cut at No. 30 with 55 votes, behind several Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 titles. The November 1 chart moved it to No. 15 with 103 votes. That places it ahead of Stranger Than Heaven at 101 votes, Monster Hunter Wilds on Switch 2 at 99 votes, Genshin Impact on Switch at 98 votes, and The Duskbloods at 90 votes.
The new position matters because Ravenous did not simply benefit from a quiet chart. The upper half is crowded. Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo Switch 2 holds No. 1 with 716 votes, Pokemon Winds / Waves sits at No. 2 with 572 votes, Persona 4 Revival on PS5 has 461 votes, Persona 6 on PS5 has 429 votes, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation on PS5 has 403 votes, and Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World on Switch 2 has 392 votes. Ravenous is still far from that top tier, but it is no longer an end-of-list curiosity.
It is also worth noting the timing of the ballots. Nintendo Everything says the November 1 votes were cast from October 14 to October 20, while the October 18 chart used votes from September 30 to October 6. That means the Famitsu most wanted games November 2026 snapshot is already a slightly delayed reading of audience sentiment. If attention continued after those dates, this chart may be capturing the start of the climb rather than its ceiling.
Switch 2 is dominating the Nintendo conversation on the chart
Ravenous’ rise looks stronger when placed inside the broader Nintendo Switch 2 field. In the November 1 Famitsu top 30, Switch 2 listings include Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Pokemon Winds / Waves, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, Xenoblade Genesis, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, Kirby and the World Beyond, Persona 6, Persona 4 Revival, Metroid Ravenous, Monster Hunter Wilds, The Duskbloods, Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies Untied, Attack on Titan 3, Muramasa: Revenant Blades, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, and Metaphor: ReFantazio.
That spread suggests Nintendo’s upcoming release slate is carrying several different kinds of anticipation at once. Zelda and Pokemon are doing the obvious heavyweight work at the top. Dragon Quest, Xenoblade, Layton, Kirby, Persona, and Monster Hunter show how much of the conversation is being pulled toward Switch 2 across first-party, third-party, and multiplatform names. Metroid Ravenous does not have the vote mass of Zelda or Pokemon, but its jump shows that Nintendo’s action-adventure lane is beginning to register inside that same hardware conversation.
There is a practical distinction here. Famitsu separates platforms in its listings, so Persona 6 appears at No. 4 on PS5 with 429 votes and No. 12 on Switch 2 with 119 votes. Persona 4 Revival appears at No. 3 on PS5 with 461 votes and No. 14 on Switch 2 with 106 votes. Metroid Ravenous appears only as a Switch 2 listing in the provided Famitsu chart, at No. 15. Based on these sources, readers should treat Switch 2 as the only platform currently reflected in the Japanese reader ranking for Ravenous.
The action design pitch fits a sharper Metroid cadence
The public Metroid Ravenous listing in the provided source material describes the game as an upcoming side-scrolling action-adventure developed by MercurySteam and Nintendo EPD and published by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch 2. The same listing says it is the eleventh main Metroid game, a sequel to Metroid Dread, and is scheduled for January 28, 2027.
On the play side, that listing describes Samus exploring an alien moon with abilities that include warping through walls, running on water, and siphoning energy from enemies. It also says the parry system from Metroid Dread returns. If those details reflect the final game, Ravenous is being framed around a more elastic rhythm than simple room-to-room shooting: traversal that bends space, combat that rewards close timing, and set-piece movement built around sudden changes in surface, speed, and threat.
That could help explain why the game is building momentum after its first chart appearance. Metroid Dread’s modern 2D identity was built around pressure, pursuit, and precision. A follow-up that keeps parrying while adding wall-warping and water-running suggests Nintendo and MercurySteam are pushing Samus toward faster encounter design and more aggressive stage flow. The Famitsu jump does not prove Japanese players have embraced those mechanics, but it does show that awareness has moved quickly after the game’s debut in the chart.
The release slate around it is both opportunity and risk
Nintendo Everything notes that Zelda: Ocarina of Time may be in its final week on the Famitsu most wanted chart while still holding No. 1. If that game exits soon, the upper rankings could loosen, but the competition behind it remains intense. Pokemon Winds / Waves, multiple Persona entries, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Dragon Quest Monsters, Xenoblade Genesis, Professor Layton, and Kirby all occupy the same attention economy.
For Nintendo, that is a healthy problem. Famitsu software sales reported by Nintendo Everything for the week of September 21 to September 27 also show strong Nintendo platform presence in Japan, with Switch 2 titles such as Derby Stallion 2, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Splatoon Raiders, Mario Kart World, Pokemon Pokopia, and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition appearing in the top 30 alongside long-running Switch titles. That sales chart is separate from the most wanted list, but together they sketch a market where Switch and Switch 2 software remain highly visible.
Ravenous sits in a narrower lane than Mario Kart, Pokemon, or Zelda. That can work in its favor. A Metroid game does not need to outvote every RPG and family tentpole to be strategically important. It needs to convince action-adventure players that Switch 2 has a technically sharp, mechanically dense exclusive near the front of 2027. If the January 28, 2027 date from the public listing holds, Ravenous could arrive after several larger names have already absorbed the broadest launch-window attention.
What is confirmed, and what still needs an official answer
The Famitsu chart movement is confirmed through Nintendo Everything’s publication of the reader rankings: Metroid Ravenous debuted at No. 30 with 55 votes on the October 18 chart and rose to No. 15 with 103 votes on the November 1 chart. The latest votes were cast from October 14 to October 20. That is the cleanest data point available from the provided sources.
Other details should be read according to their source. The supplied public listing says Metroid Ravenous is a Switch 2 game developed by MercurySteam and Nintendo EPD, published by Nintendo, scheduled for January 28, 2027, and built with HDR and 120 Hz display support. It also describes side-scrolling play, an alien moon setting, new movement and energy-siphoning abilities, and the return of the parry system. The provided sources do not include a Nintendo store page, price, file size, edition breakdown, preorder terms, upgrade path, or Switch 1 version.
For players deciding whether to plan around Metroid Ravenous Switch 2, the safest read is this: the Japanese reader signal is getting louder, but the practical buying details are still incomplete in the available material. Watch for Nintendo to confirm final release information, supported display modes, physical and digital availability, and any regional differences. Until then, the Metroid Ravenous Famitsu surge is best understood as a momentum marker, not a substitute for official launch details.