Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Switch 2 Edition Adds Xenosaga's MOMO, But the Rights-Grab Theory Doesn't Hold Up
A new trailer confirmed MOMO as a cameo Blade for the Switch 2 Edition, and the excitement over a missing logo has already been checked by a Japanese trademark record.
The Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Switch 2 Edition trailer confirmed MOMO, a character from Xenosaga, as an additional cameo Blade. That puts her alongside KOS-MOS and T-ELOS, both of whom made it into the base game and its post-launch update as crossover characters from the same series.
The trailer itself didn't carry a Bandai Namco licensing watermark, unlike the original KOS-MOS reveal on social media, which did display Bandai Namco's copyright notice. That absence is what kicked off a theory circulating that Nintendo might have quietly acquired the Xenosaga rights outright, with some pointing to reports that Xenosaga had been pulled from Bandai Namco's Japanese licensing page sometime between October and November of last year.
Why the acquisition theory doesn't check out
A quick look at Japan's trademark registry closes this one out. The Xenosaga trademark is still listed as active and registered to Bandai Namco Entertainment, full stop. There's no filing showing a transfer to Nintendo or Monolith Soft.
That's backed up elsewhere too. Xenosaga: Pied Piper, a game that released on Steam recently, still carries Bandai Namco's copyright notice. So does the YouTube upload of the Xenosaga piano collection vinyl. If Bandai Namco had actually handed off the IP, it would be unusual for the company's own storefront releases and official uploads to still be crediting itself as the rights holder.
So what's the missing watermark actually about?
Probably not much beyond an inconsistency in how Nintendo credited the trailer. A missing watermark on one piece of marketing material isn't equivalent to a trademark filing, and licensing deals for cameo characters like this typically don't require the same kind of on-screen credit every single time they're used.
It's also worth noting that base Xenoblade Chronicles 2 already folded Xenosaga characters into its cast without needing to transfer any ownership, just a standard licensing arrangement between Bandai Namco and Nintendo, two companies that already work together closely on other projects. Adding MOMO to the Switch 2 Edition likely follows that same pattern rather than signaling anything bigger.
Nothing here confirms a Xenosaga remaster, remake, or any expanded Nintendo involvement in the series. The most concrete evidence available right now, the trademark record itself, points the other way.
