• Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream director Ryutaro Takahashi says development began in 2017
• Takahashi says he and producer Yoshio Sakamoto have a "special attachment" to the series
• They agreed they'd "squeezed all we could" out of the 3DS title and agreed to make a new game

The creators of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream have revealed that development began for the Nintendo Switch back in 2017, expressing an attachment to the series.

Speaking in a new Nintendo Ask the Developer interview, game director Ryutaro Takahashi discussed the initial idea behind the game, confirming that development started almost 10 years ago.

Takahashi said he spoke to franchise producer Yoshio Sakamoto, and, after agreeing they'd "squeezed" all they could out of Tomodachi Life on the Nintendo 3DS, they decided to make a new game.

"I believe development started around 2017, after things had settled down on Miitomo," Takahashi said. "The producer, Sakamoto-san, and I both have a special attachment to Tomodachi Life and have been playing the previous game on Nintendo 3DS for many years. But we'd already squeezed all we could out of that game, and Sakamoto-san said to me sadly, 'There's so much that I want my Mii characters to experience, but there’s nothing more that I can do for them.'

"(Laughs) So, we talked about our desire to create a new Tomodachi Life game."

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream launches today on Nintendo Switch, and it's also playable on Nintendo Switch 2.

TechRadar Gaming's gaming editor Dashiell Wood rated the game four stars in his review, calling it "a delight, with superb character customization and plenty of charming humor."

"Its hands-off nature won’t be for everyone, and the lack of a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 version is a missed opportunity, but there’s still no other game that offers its special brand of unapologetic weirdness," he wrote.

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Demi is a freelance games journalist who helps cover gaming news at TechRadar. She's been a games writer for five years and has written for outlets such as GameSpot, NME, and GamesRadar, covering news, features, and reviews. Outside of writing, she plays a lot of RPGs and talks far too much about Star Wars on X.