The punch-out is unlikely to return after a "significant" reaction to stereotypes

Summary

It's been over a decade since Nintendo released a new Punch-Out game, and that doesn't look like it's about to change.
Video game journalist Imran Khan recently shared a story where they spoke to one of the developers of the 2009 games.
The developer stated that the negative reaction towards the stereotypical characters caused some problems with Nintendo.

A developer who worked on the 2009 Punch-Out game for Wii has said the series is unlikely to return due to “significant” backlash over its stereotypical characters.

As anyone who's been waiting for a new Star Fox or F-Zero game surely knows, Nintendo is sitting on a lot of unused games and series. While they sometimes like to surprise us all by bringing them back every now and then (just take a look at the new Famicom Detective Club from last year), there are some franchises that just don't seem to be returning.

Mario in a Santa hat holding a green and gold Christmas present with a Sony stereo in the background.

I'll never forget getting the Wii for Christmas in 2006

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year (due to the trolling of parents).

One of my biggest hopes for the Switch 2 was to finally see a successor to Next Level Games' 2009 Punch-Out, which captured the charm of the original and cranked it up to 11. Looks like Nintendo just doesn't see it that way , however, as a developer who worked on the game has seemingly extinguished any hopes of it returning.

Don't expect the punch-out to return

Doc Louis gives Little Mac a pep talk in Punch-Out.

As pointed out by Nintendo Everything, a ResetEra user recently started a thread discussing Punch-Out and saying that he hoped to see Little Mac's return in Nintendo's future. This prompted a response from games journalist and Kinda Funny host Imran Khan, who shared an anecdote from when they got drunk with a developer “close” to the series, apparently referring to Next Level Games.

According to Khan, the anonymous developer said there was “significantly” more backlash regarding the game's stereotypical character designs than Nintendo or Next Level Games anticipated. This came after the developers assured Nintendo that it wouldn't be a problem, leaving them to frown and “call it a day.”

The story I was told, and keep in mind that this may just be one person's perspective and no one else's, is that there was a much more violent backlash against the characters in the Wii game than anyone expected. And this team spent a lot of time assuring Nintendo that they weren't leaning into bad stereotypes that would be exposed this time around, so everyone just frowned and said it was done. – Imran Khan

This, combined with the fact that Next Level Games had other titles with greater sales potential, pretty much put the final nail in Punch-Out's coffin, as it seems difficult to bring the series back without its iconic characters from around the world. While Nintendo I could making a new Punch-Out with a different developer seems like a tall order considering how important the characters are to the series.