Over 10 years later, Tomodachi Life fans find relief for their long suffering with a sequel, Living the Dream, which might feature long-requested queer romance

At long last, silly life sim Tomodachi Life is finally getting a sequel on Nintendo Switch with Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, ending what's been, for some, a 12-year drought without a new entry in the series.

Tomodachi Life is not only one of the strangest games on the 3DS, but also one of the best. While it first hit Japan in 2013 as a sequel to the Japan-only DS game, Tomodachi Collection, it arrived overseas a year later, allowing fans to fill an island with their own Miis – complete with customizable personalities and voices – and watch their relationships flourish (or go up in flames), figure out their likes and dislikes, and take parts in things like events. You can make Miis perform custom songs in the concert hall, peer into their weird dreams, or give them food so tasty they blast into space.

It's deeply, delightfully bizarre, and there's a reason why people have been wanting a new one for so long – nothing beats the drama of watching a fictional character's Mii fall in love with one of your real life friends. The reactions have been legendary – from those whose sequel summoning circles finally worked, to those genuinely screaming at the trailer.

One of the most exciting parts of the sequel is the fact that it gives Nintendo an opportunity to fulfill an old promise. Despite romance being such a big part of the 3DS game, there was a crucial problem – Miis couldn't enter queer relationships.

Following backlash at the time, Nintendo issued an apology (thanks, IGN) for "disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships," stating that it couldn't make "such a significant development change" to fix this in a post-launch patch. However, it added: "We pledge that if we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players."

Over a decade on, you'd certainly hope that this is one of the improvements coming to Living the Dream. In fact, while the trailer doesn't outright confirm it, some are already speculating that we were given a hint right at the end. After the 2026 release window is confirmed, the screen fades to black, and we're greeted by a scene of a female Mii having a strange dream about a giant Mii woman who asks her if she wants to talk. She wakes up, shocked, while the real Mii walks behind her, smiling in her direction. Immediately, fans took to Twitter asking the real questions: "NINTENDO ARE THEY GAY???? DO WE FINALLY HAVE GAY PEOPLE IN TOMODACHI LIFE?????"

Again, this specific scene might not be the ultimate proof, although if it really is a hint, then it's rather amusing that it was included almost like a 'one more thing' announcement – as one fan puts it, "teasing gay romance options like it's a Smash character."

It'd be worthy of the fanfare, of course – many players have been waiting over a decade for the option, and in a game that, for many, centers around your alternate life as a Mii, it sucked that not everyone could properly live as themselves. It's right at the top of my list of wishes for the sequel – so here's hoping that Nintendo sticks to its word with its commitment for better representation this time.

Be sure to check out our roundup of everything announced during the March 2025 Nintendo Direct to see what other new games are on the horizon.