Nintendo and Velan Studios' 1.2.0 update adds stages, items, four-player split-screen, and online fixes, suggesting Star Fox is being tested as a stronger multiplayer action game on Switch 2.
Image: IGDB
Star Fox battle mode just got the kind of update that changes the read on the whole project
Nintendo and Velan Studios have pushed Star Fox further into multiplayer territory with update 1.2.0, adding three Battle Mode stages, new items, expanded four-player split-screen on a single Nintendo Switch 2 console, and online fixes that keep lobbies alive when a host leaves. That is the confirmed development from the patch notes reported by ThisGenGaming and Twisted Voxel, and it lands at a useful moment for a game that had been read largely through the lens of nostalgia.
The tension is clear. According to Wikipedia’s summary of the 2026 Star Fox release, the Switch 2 game is a Velan Studios-developed, Nintendo-published remake of the 1997 Star Fox, adapting the older game’s level design, story, and gameplay while rebooting the series. That public listing also notes that reviews praised gameplay, graphics, and faithfulness, while criticizing a lack of innovation or additional features. NintendoEverything’s hands-on feature makes the same pressure point more specific: Battle Mode launched with only Corneria, Fichina, and Sector Y, and the outlet says that limited stage count left the mode wanting.
Update 1.2.0 does not confirm a sequel, an esports push, or a long-term roadmap. Nintendo has not announced those things in the supplied material. What it does confirm is sharper multiplayer support after launch. For a series best known as an on-rails shooter, that is the more interesting signal than the familiar planets on the menu.
The confirmed Star Fox multiplayer changes are aimed at volume, variety, and party play
The new Battle Mode stages are Katina, Sector X, and Venom. ThisGenGaming’s version of the patch notes says update 1.2.0 was released September 29, 2026, and lists those three additions alongside new battle items and expanded split-screen. Twisted Voxel reports the same stage additions and says the update is now available.
NintendoEverything’s hands-on piece frames the stage count as the main correction. The outlet says the original Battle Mode roster was limited to Corneria, Fichina, and Sector Y, and that the new additions create greater variety. That matters for a competitive action mode because three maps can get solved fast. Players learn the dominant routes, safe angles, power-item timing, and spawn pressure. Doubling the stage pool gives the mode more room to breathe, even before balance changes enter the conversation.
The local multiplayer change is just as important. The patch notes reported by ThisGenGaming say split-screen now supports up to four players on one Switch 2 console, with a controller required for each player. Joy-Con 2 and Joy-Con controllers can be used in solo horizontal grip during split-screen. The update also adds the ability to participate in random matches as a team by using split-screen.
That last detail is the sleeper feature. Local split-screen is usually treated as couch chaos. Allowing split-screen players to enter random matches as a team gives Star Fox multiplayer a cleaner bridge between party play and online matchmaking. For a shooter-adjacent air combat mode, that can matter more than raw map count because it lets two, three, or four players practice together in the same room, then take that coordination online without splitting into separate queues.
Katina shows the update leaning toward objective pressure, not pure dogfighting nostalgia
NintendoEverything’s hands-on description gives the clearest look at how at least one new stage changes the rhythm. On Katina, the outlet reports that satellites periodically open zones players can fly into to establish control. Once a team holds a zone long enough, it wins that zone and activates a laser that fires on the opposing team.
That is a different kind of multiplayer pressure from a straight aerial deathmatch. A traditional dogfight asks who has better tracking, positioning, evasion, and target selection. A zone-control setup asks those same questions while also forcing players to decide when to leave a chase, when to stack bodies on an objective, and when to contest space even if the angle is bad.
For Star Fox, that is a smart test. The Arwing already has readable combat verbs: boost, brake, roll, turn, shoot, survive. Objective zones give those verbs a reason to collide. A turret near an objective has value. A player baiting enemies out of a satellite zone has value. A teammate who can peel pressure while another player holds space has value. None of that is confirmed as a ranked structure or a balance philosophy from Nintendo, but Katina’s reported rules point to a mode trying to create repeatable multiplayer situations instead of relying only on recognition of classic locations.
Sector X and Venom are confirmed as new stages, but the supplied material does not provide the same mechanical breakdown for them. NintendoEverything says the three new stages are “all really good” after trying them, but that is the outlet’s hands-on judgment, not a formal Nintendo claim. The factual takeaway is narrower and stronger: Battle Mode now has a broader arena pool, and at least one new arena uses objective control to shape engagements.
New items suggest Velan is testing utility and area denial, with mixed early results
NintendoEverything reports that update 1.2.0 adds two new Battle Mode items: the Autoturret and the Multiblaster. The outlet says players can earn two new profile icons by getting 20 takedowns with each item, either against bots or real players online. It also reports two new profile achievements: earning the Team MVP accolade 100 times in online matchmaking, and completing a normal or expert campaign run with 1,750 hits or more.
The Autoturret is the cleaner competitive idea on paper. NintendoEverything describes it as a placed turret that stays in position and shoots nearby enemies, making it strong near or within an objective. In a mode with Katina-style control zones, that gives players a reason to think about placement rather than only aim. It can cover a lane, punish lazy approaches, or force an enemy to waste movement clearing it before committing to a zone.
The Multiblaster sounds less convincing in early hands-on play. NintendoEverything says it fires a group of laser beams in different directions, but the outlet found it easy to dodge and said it almost never scored takedowns in its experience. That does not prove the item is weak across the entire player base, and it does not tell us how it performs in every stage or team composition. It does tell us the first reported read is uneven: one item appears to support objective play, while the other may need players to find a niche or may simply be undertuned.
This is where Velan Studios’ fingerprints matter. My Nintendo News reports that Velan marked its tenth year by saying on social media that it opened a second studio in Toronto and “brought Star Fox to life with Nintendo,” calling it a project the team was “deeply proud” to take on. The same quote says Velan is “still broadening our capabilities and letting our craft flourish.” That is not a promise of future Star Fox support. It does, however, fit the shape of this update: a studio known in this source set as the developer of the Switch 2 Star Fox is still refining modes, items, local play, and online flow after launch.
The online fixes are less flashy than new stages, but they decide whether a mode survives
For players who care about Star Fox multiplayer, the patch notes’ infrastructure changes may be the real test. ThisGenGaming reports that online lobbies will no longer disband after the host leaves. Twisted Voxel also lists a fix for an issue where the host and remaining participants could stop progressing normally after the host lost connection, as well as a fix for a crash that could occur when starting an Online Battle match.
Those are not glamorous patch-note lines, but they are the difference between a mode people keep in rotation and one they abandon after a bad night. A small multiplayer population feels every failed lobby harder. If a host drop kills the room, matchmaking becomes friction. If Online Battle can crash at match start, players lose trust before the match even has pacing or balance problems to solve.
The update also folds in Nintendo Switch 2 social features. According to the patch notes reported by ThisGenGaming, when players use a camera in GameChat, the camera feed can appear on the game screen during full-screen matches when they shoot down an enemy aircraft and in other instances. A separately sold USB camera is required, and the patch notes say camera feeds and microphone audio are transmitted only to GameChat members. Character avatars and AR accessories can also be used.
That is a very Nintendo-shaped way to frame competitive feedback: a little party-room energy, a little social reward after a takedown, and a privacy boundary in the patch notes. It does not turn Star Fox into a hardcore shooter platform by itself. It does show Nintendo and Velan treating Battle Mode as a live social space, rather than a museum bonus attached to a campaign remake.
The campaign fixes show the revival still has technical cleanup to do
Update 1.2.0 is not only a multiplayer content drop. The reported patch notes include a long list of Campaign Mode, Challenge Mode, Training, and bug fixes. ThisGenGaming says the update adds a confirmation dialog when selecting “ABANDON CAMPAIGN” after a game over, adjusts visuals to make damage on certain bosses easier to read, modifies a Sector X challenge so it can be completed even if the wing-repair item is obtained, and changes the Bolse Core weak-point color.
The bug-fix list is also specific. Reported fixes include a Corneria crash tied to repeatedly selecting restart, freezes involving boss defeats in Aquas and Area 6 when the player’s ship is shot down at the same time, a rare Titania freeze tied to Goras’ body failing to reappear, and an issue where playing Venom in Challenge Mode could cause a freeze after resuming Campaign Mode and clearing Venom. Twisted Voxel adds that the update addresses score calculation problems and other bugs, though the supplied excerpt does not fully detail every scoring fix.
For a revival built on a familiar campaign, readability and stability are part of the sales pitch. If the game is asking returning players to accept another revisit of classic Star Fox material, then the remake has to feel polished enough to justify that trip. The multiplayer changes are the future-facing half of the update. The campaign fixes are the maintenance half, and they make clear that Star Fox’s Switch 2 release is still being tightened months after launch.
Nintendo has not announced the next step, but the direction is getting clearer
There is no confirmed Star Fox sequel in the provided sources. There is no confirmed paid expansion, competitive season, balance roadmap, or new platform release. The only platform supported by the supplied reporting is Nintendo Switch 2, with Wikipedia and the patch-note coverage identifying Nintendo as publisher and Velan Studios as developer. The 1.2.0 update is reported as free by NintendoEverything.
Still, the pattern is hard to ignore. Nintendo and Velan did not only add nostalgic locations. They expanded the Battle Mode stage pool, added objective-friendly tools, upgraded split-screen to four players, let local groups enter random matches as a team, and fixed online lobby behavior. Those are the choices a developer makes when it wants players to keep testing a multiplayer mode, arguing over item value, learning map flow, and bringing friends into the queue.
If you bounced off Star Fox at launch because Battle Mode felt thin, update 1.2.0 is the strongest reason in the supplied material to reinstall or revisit it. If you wanted a full reinvention, this patch does not prove that has arrived. The campaign remains rooted in a remake structure, and the sources still frame the broader release around faithfulness to earlier Star Fox design.
The sharper read is that Nintendo Star Fox changes are moving on two tracks. One track preserves the recognizable rail-shooter campaign that brought the series back. The other is probing whether Star Fox multiplayer can carry modern action-game habits: objective control, utility items, local-to-online party flow, and sturdier matchmaking. Velan Studios’ public pride in the project does not announce what comes next, but update 1.2.0 gives the revival a clearer competitive pulse than it had at launch.