Nintendo has a great stable of franchises, but some of them haven’t seen a new game in quite some time. Such is the case with F-Zero, Nintendo’s futuristic racing franchise. While elements of the series continue to appear in Nintendo Switch games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Smash Bros Ultimatethere hasn’t been a new game since 2004 F-Zero Highlight. This game was only released in Japan, so fans in North America are waiting even longer. In a new interview with GamesBeat, former Nintendo of America President Reggie File-Aime was asked about the franchise and if it really was “abandoned”.

“Why was F-Zero discontinued? The idea I would share is that, at least during my tenure, Nintendo developers were always experimenting with different styles of play, always thinking about where a unique experience might be applied, either to an existing franchise or maybe start a new franchise. I bet somewhere in the development centers of Kyoto, a developer is playing with an idea that could be applied to F-Zero,” Son said. – Likes to GamesBeat. “It’s never been a situation, at least in my experience, where the company makes a conscious decision not to continue supporting the XYZ franchise. Historically, it just hasn’t worked that way, not when I was there.”

Last year, former Nintendo designer Takaya Imamura told IGN something similar, stating that “without a big new idea, it’s hard to bring [F-Zero] While obviously disappointing, Imamura and Fils-Aime’s comments should give fans some hope that Nintendo hasn’t abandoned the series altogether. It’s possible that Nintendo just hasn’t found the right way to sell F-Zero to a wider audience, and without some sort of new idea the company doesn’t feel confident enough to revisit the series.

For now, F-Zero fans will have to settle for the original SNES game, plus F-Zero X, both currently available on Nintendo Switch Online. The latter game was added to the Nintendo 64 expansion pack app in March.

Are you hoping to see a new F-Zero game? What would you like to see from the series? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!