Fire Emblem Shadows

A social deduction game set in the Fire Emblem universe.

Fire Emblem Shadows is a 2025 social deduction strategy video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for Android and iOS. It is the second mobile spin-off of the Fire Emblem series, following Fire Emblem Heroes (2017), and departs from the series' traditional tactical role-playing gameplay in favor of multiplayer social deduction. The game was announced and released on September 25, 2025, and received negative reviews from critics.

Quick Facts

Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
Series: Fire Emblem
Platforms: Android, iOS
Genre: Strategy, social deduction
Modes: Multiplayer
Released: September 25, 2025
Director: Kouhei Maeda; Junichi Iida

Facts from the source article.

Gameplay and plot

Fire Emblem Shadows introduces real-time strategy gameplay with social deduction elements, a first for the series. In online multiplayer battles, three players cooperate against enemies while one secretly serves the Goddess of Shadows, Fenris, and can attack or sabotage allies. Combat is automatic, with players controlling only magic and healing abilities; they can adjust skills and weapons outside combat. Each game has two rounds: the first round cannot be lost, allowing players to convince others of their loyalty, after which a vote determines the suspected traitor.

Correct guesses grant additional revivals. The revealed traitor transforms into an animalistic version based on a body trait, and players fight them in the second round; the winning side wins the game. The story is split into parallel light and shadow narratives told in visual novel-style chapters grouped into Books, unlocked by playing multiplayer battles.

Release and reception

Fire Emblem Shadows was revealed and immediately released on September 25, 2025 in over 70 countries on iOS and Android. It was Nintendo's first mobile game release in six years since Mario Kart Tour (2019), and the second Fire Emblem mobile game after Fire Emblem Heroes (2017). Developed by Intelligent Systems with DeNA, the game uses a free-to-play model with microtransactions, including a season pass that offered the returning character Lyn until October 28.

Lyn's incarnation was later added to Fire Emblem Heroes, causing a revenue surge. Corrin was the second season pass character in late October 2025, followed by Veronica in late November, Ike in late December, and Edelgard in late January 2026. On Metacritic, the game scored 37/100 based on five reviews, earning a 'generally unfavorable' rating and ranking as the second-worst reviewed game of 2025 on the platform, ahead of MindsEye. Critics, including Madsen of Inverse and Giovanni Colantonio of Polygon, criticized the gameplay as too simple and lacking depth in social elements, with Colantonio also faulting microtransactions that allowed players with stronger gear to overwhelm others. The game was noted for resembling the 2018 social deduction game Among Us.