Super Nintendo World Opening Delayed Due To COVID-19 Surge

After years of talk about a Nintendo theme park, we found ourselves within weeks of Super Nintendo World opening at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. Originally slated for a grand opening on February 4th, 2021, Universal Studios and Nintendo have announced that the opening will be delayed. Like most things that have been delayed over the course of the past year, we have the COVID-19 pandemic to thank for this one as well.In a statement published to the Universal Studios Japan website today, the company announced that Super Nintendo World won't have its grand opening until the current state of emergency order in Osaka Prefecture is lifted. The state of emergency order was extended to cover Osaka Prefecture yesterday, thanks to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Japan.

The state of emergency will be lifted on February 7th, but in Universal Japan's note, there's no word on a new grand opening date for Super Nintendo World. It's likely that Universal has decided to play it by ear, thinking that the surge might continue longer and extend restrictions further.

In any case, once those restrictions have been lifted, Universal Studios will probably be able to schedule a new grand opening date quickly. We've been building to this point for years – Super Nintendo World was first confirmed for Universal Japan way back in December 2016 and in planning for even longer, so you can bet that Universal is anxious to get that park open.

For the time being, though, the opening of Super Nintendo World is on hold. We'll let you know when that changes, but we know for sure that it won't be opening until after February 7th. Stay tuned for more.