Image: Nintendo
The Kirby Air Riders Global Test Ride is currently taking place this weekend, and it looks like the game engine it’s running on might have been uncovered.
It’s Bandai Namco’s new in-house engine SOL-AVES. Thanks to some detective work, the engine’s logo has been spotted in the game demo’s Intellectual Property Notices. We’ve taken a look ourselves and can confirm it’s listed. The trademark for this engine was filed in “late 2024”, but it’s apparently been in the making since around 2019, and was initially revealed in 2022.
Image: Bandai Namco
Thanks for the tip, James McWhirter — Image: Nintendo Life / Bandai Namco, Nintendo
Recruitment and training for the engine is supposedly ongoing, and its first major public test appears to be this new title by legendary game director Masahiro Sakurai. Below you can see new engineers testing it out. This new game engine has also previously shown up on Bandai Namco’s official website in job listings.
“Bandai Namco Studios develops its own in-house game engine. As part of their training, new engineers had the opportunity to try out our in-house developed game engine! During the training, after learning the basic operations, the participants created a simple game. The ease of use of the in-house game engine has been very well received.”
◤新人研修紹介 内製ゲームエンジン体験💻◢
バンダイナムコスタジオでは、内製ゲームエンジンを開発しています💪
今回は研修の一環として、新人エンジニアが内製ゲームエンジンを体験しました！研修では基本操作を教わった後、シンプルなゲームを制作しました。… pic.twitter.com/KHx660JaNo
— バンダイナムコスタジオ (@BNStudios_info) June 12, 2025
In the past, Bandai Namco has made use of video game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine for major releases.
If there are any significant updates, or it’s discovered there’s more (or something else) under the hood of Kirby’s new racer, we’ll let you know.
[source automaton-media.com, via gonintendo.com]
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Liam is a news writer and reviewer across Hookshot Media. He’s been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of many iconic video game characters.
