Nintendo revealed a character trailer for Monolith Soft's Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch game during its Nintendo Direct presentation for the game on Tuesday. The video previews the characters and features the original Japanese audio with English subtitles, which will be available as free DLC for the game on launch day.

The game will ship on December 1. A special edition will bundle a sound selection CD, a metal game case, and a 220-page hardbound art book. Nintendo will also sell a Xenoblade Chronicles 2-themed Nintendo Switch Pro Controller separately.

Tetsuya Takahashi returns as the game's executive director. The game features main character designs by Masatsugu Saitō (Expelled from Paradise, Cyborg 009 Call of Justice), as well as character designs by Tetsuya Nomura (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII). Yasunori Mitsuda, ACE (Tomori Kudō, Chico), Kenji Hiramatsu, and Manami Kiyota are returning from the first game to compose the game's music. Video game localization company 8-4, which handled Xenoblade Chronicles X, will not handle localization for Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Nintendo released the original Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii in Japan in 2010, Europe in 2011, and North America in 2012. Nintendo released Xenoblade Chronicles 3D for the New Nintendo 3DS in April 2015 in North America and Europe. The Xenoblade Chronicles X "spiritual successor" shipped for the Wii U system in December 2015.