Bandai Namco Launches First SideM Console Game Project for Switch
With both SideM mobile titles shut down, a brand-exclusive console release is the first way to play SideM in a game without going through a multi-brand crossover title.
Key Facts
- Bandai Namco Entertainment announced a home console game project for The Idolmaster SideM on September 13.
- The Idolmaster SideM console game will support Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
- The game follows 16 units and 49 idols working toward a large-scale live concert one year away.
- The Idolmaster SideM console game is the first console title for the SideM brand and the first console THE IDOLM@STER title since The Idolmaster Starlit Season in 2021.
- The official title and release timing for the SideM console game have not been announced.
Reporting from 2 sources: Automaton, Denfaminicogamer.
Bandai Namco Entertainment announced on September 13 that a home console game project has started for The Idolmaster SideM. The supported platforms are Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and this is the first console release for the SideM brand, which until now has been developed for mobile. In the wider THE IDOLM@STER series, it is the first console title since The Idolmaster Starlit Season in 2021. The game shares the worldview of the story running on the SideM brand page but carries a new story of its own, following 16 units and 49 idols as they work toward a large-scale live concert set one year away. The official title and release timing have not been announced and will be shared later. The announcement was made with a special news video. Two earlier SideM mobile titles, LIVE ON ST@GE! and GROWING STARS, have already ended their services.
The September 13 announcement came as a special news video posted by the SideM brand account, which asked viewers to watch it rather than dropping a title card. No official name, release window, or price followed.
What the sources do add is how the game sits in the series. SideM's idols are all male producers' talents at 315 Production, and each one arrives with a former job, doctors and Self-Defense Force officers among them, working toward what the game calls their own reasons.
- Setting: shares the worldview of the story running on the SideM brand page, with a new story written for the game itself.
- Scope: 16 units and 49 idols, all aiming at a large-scale live concert one year out.
- Platform: Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
The series gap is the other angle. "The Idolmaster Starlit Season" arrived in 2021, and between then and now SideM fans could only reach the brand through multi-brand crossover titles such as "The Idolmaster Tours," because both "LIVE ON ST@GE!" and "GROWING STARS" were shut down.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.