December 11 for EU, January 8 for NA
Jeez, we haven’t had any amiibo-related news for at least uh… five minutes now? These minutes have been dark, grim, and uncertain times, but fear not my friends! Shovel Knight, of Shovel Knight fame, is here to save the day.
As announced on the Yacht Club Games site, the Shovel Knight amiibo will be launching in Europe first, with a release date of December 11 and a cost of €14.99 or £10.99. For those in North America, you’ll have to wait almost a month, as it is launching on January 8 for $12.99.
The decision to launch in North America later than Europe was apparently influenced by availability. Releasing in North America later gives them time to produce enough for them to be available, rather than rushing out an international launch during the holiday period and running out of stock.
The amiibo will unlock a ton of new content for Shovel Knight on Wii U and 3DS, such as the ability to make your own custom Knight and level them up through treasure and relics. Your knight will be playable on both Nintendo platforms, which handily means they’ll be compatible with the Wii U exclusive co-op mode, which is also unlocked by the amiibo.
If you’ve already played the main game to death, there will also be some new challenge maps. Five solo maps will be available for 3DS and Wii U, while the five co-op maps will only be available for Wii U.
The decision to lock this much content behind an amiibo purchase has been a controversial one ever since it was announced. While it’s not much different from just buying DLC, the notorious scarcity of amiibo, and the fact Shovel Knight is available on more than just Nintendo platforms, has earned it some pretty valid criticism.
Still, if you want to see what’s new when you eventually get your Shovel Knight amiibo, there’s a very fancy trailer up top.
