Nintendo has once again renewed its hold on the Eternal Darkness trademark, despite the fact that the first and only game in the series was released over a decade ago. As per Niche Gamer (via VG247), the trademark was filed on December 20th last year with the USPTO, the third such time Nintendo has done so, having applied for extensions in 2010 as well as 2013. The filing (below) makes no mention of platforms, nor does it give any hints as to the existence of a sequel, but they must be cooking something up, right?
With the filing being in such close proximity to the imminent Nintendo Switch event next week, we can only assume the Big N has some sort of plan to bring the series back to life on the new platform, although under what guise, who knows. A brand new sequel, however unlikely, could be possible, but far more likely is an HD re-release of the original GameCube game.
In fact, as Eurogamer reported previously, it’s looking likely that the Switch will feature the integration of a GameCube Virtual Console, allowing fans of the defunct Wii predecessor to replay long lost classics. If true, the latter almost seems like a no-brainer.
Released back in 2002, Eternal Darkness was developed by Silicon Knights and billed as a psychological horror title. While it had a disappointing financial performance, it was praised for its various unique features and subsequently gained a sizeable fan following.
If you’re a fan, be sure to keep those fingers crossed until January 12, when the lid on the Switch’s launch line-up will finally be blown off.