Mane6's popular bovine beat 'em up Them's Fightin' Herds is finally coming to consoles! Published by Modus Games, this farmyard fighter sees a cast of cuddly hooved fighters duke it out with one another in a range of settings — all animal appropriate, of course. This announcement comes months after the game was rated for Switch by the ESRB.

The cast of adorable characters have all been designed by the producer and developer for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Lauren Faust, who was also the creator, director, and developer for DC superhero short series Super Best Friends Forever, and all of these four-legged friends come with some unusual and hilarious move sets.

Not only is the game coming to Switch later in the year, but Modus Games has also announced that more content will be coming to all versions of Them's Fightin' Herds in a Season Pass. The first pass will contain four brand-new DLC fighters, new stages, and some fancy cosmetics to dress your hooved herd of animal combatants. You can play versus mode locally, or hop online and take on players around the world with GPPO rollback netcode — let's hope that feature stays in for the Switch port, as some previous fighters have come to the console without rollback, though Fantasy Strike and Skullgirls 2nd Encore are two examples that do use this.

You don't have to pay with others, though. If you're a lone sheep, you can play through an episodic story mode which takes you through a top-down adventure game with combat challenges along the way.

For a rundown on all of the game's modes and features, we've pulled everything you need to know from Them

Combat Features - 4-Button Fighting - A (Light), B (Medium), C (Heavy), D (Magic). - Magic System - Emphasize your character’s special abilities through a dedicated button and unique resource. - Enhanced Super Attack - Spend an additional bar of meter during your super for a bonus utility effect. - Juggle Decay - An infinite-prevention system that increases a character's gravity the longer they stay in a combo, managing combo length without imposing hard limits. - Dynamic Music System - Rockin’ character themes adapt in the heat of the battle to make every fight feel like a clash of champions. - Rollback Netcode - Battle across the globe with little to no input delay with the power of GGPO.

- Local Versus and Online Matchmaking - Play at home or fight worthy opponents on-demand. - Tutorial and Training Modes - Learn the ropes with guided tutorials, or practice on your own with a fully-featured, data-rich training room. - Sharable Combo Trials - Test your skills with premade combo trials or create your own challenges and share with friends! - Replay System - Record your matches then review every detail frame-by-frame! - Pixel Lobby - Join our visual lobby system which lets players freely explore and interact in a top-down themed environment with nostalgic style. Customize your avatar with cosmetic items earned through play! - Salt Mines - Hidden within each Pixel Lobby, a contest that pits players against waves of NPC predators and each other, combining dungeon crawl with fighting game. - Story Mode - An episodic adventure filled with exploration, combat challenges, minigames, and boss fights! Each chapter follows one character's personal quest to recover a magical, legendary key that will save the world from the return of vicious predators, banished in an age past. Chapter 1 (starring Arizona) is available now, with subsequent chapters to be released in the months following, free of charge.

Given the game has been out for almost two years now, we imagine the Switch release will get all of the story mode chapters right out of the gate.

The game will also be getting a Deluxe Edition, which comes with the Season 1 Pass straight out of the box. Players who purchase the game digitally will be able to buy the pass separately. You can pre-order a physical version of the game from the Maximum Games Store right here.

To see the game in action, check out the trailer above, and have a look at Faust's brilliant art in these lovely screens. Though we should maybe be worried about the kind of sorcery some of these animals are capable of...

Let us know if you'll be entering the ranch when Them's Fightin' Herds drops on Switch later this year!

Haven't watched My Little Pony, but I've been very excited for this recently.

Looks like something Bronies and Furries would play

@Clyde_Radcliffe I'm pretty sure this started life as an MLP fan-game until Hasbro told them "no". But they ended up getting the character designer from MLP to design the unique cast for this bovine brawler, which is pretty neat.

Oh, it's the My Little Pony artist. I see.

@Grail_Quest I was gonna mention that! I used to love those toys as a kid.

@OldManHermit Ha! I used to love those too!

The name got me interested and that gameplay sold me.

Bro finally a modern 2D fighter is on Switch with everything up to date. Definitely gonna pick this up, I just now gotta actually find more people who play fighters on Switch lol

@RupeeClock It was such a sweet thing to see Lauren Faust step in and save the project. ^^

It's their first fighting game and they already did it better than Sega and Atlus. Rollback netcode support on all platform as well. Very fantastic this gets my pre-order.

@Serpenterror Yeah there's no excuse for games like Multiversus to not hit Switch without it if this game and Skullgirls can do it.

Looks cute as heck. Hoping the adventure isn't reparative ... looking at you Drangonball FighterZ

@Fighting_Game_Loser I would face you on Switch. But none have crossplay; luckily, Them Fighting Herds will! So you'll see me and a ton of others playing.

@Clyde_Radcliffe Would you believe me if I said that a lot of the people that play this game are from the FGC and aren't bronies?

Being a Brony for over 10 years now, I remember when this game was originally going to be an MLP fan game called "Fighting Is Magic."

Sadly, Hasbro claimed copyright infringement, especially since the concept involved characters fighting each other when the theme of the show is usually about friendship and resolving conflicts through dialogue, not violence.

That's not to say that there were not violent moments in the show. After all, the Season 2 finale had the Mane Six beating up an entire army of Changelings. And let's not forget the DBZ-reminiscent Season 4 finale.

There are plenty more moments, but regardless, what happened, happened. Let's just hope that this game will be good. I'll be keeping my eye on it.

Smash Bros Ultimate: no Rollback Netcode.

@MsJubilee Same, but it's more understandable for SG since Future Club weren't the direct people making the port, and the fact that they would have to bring over the DLC as well. Also I would love to play some Switch fighters as well if you have your Friend code or a Discord!

Wasn't sure what to expect but this looks amazing. Now do this but with cool characters.

Also I want to say, if anyone is reading this, the devs have said that the story mode will NOT be completed by the end of this year, but new story mode chapters will be released as free updates after launch.

@Fighting_Game_Loser With the Xbox version of SG being announced, now there is no reason for it not to get crossplay. We can only hope.

SW-5827-3728-4676 and my discord is TheHalfEatenCherry#7989

You can add me If you like. Mind you; I don't have any fighting games on the Switch. They're mainly on the PS4. But, when them fighting herds release, I will be playing it nonstop.

@MsJubilee Alrighty, I'll be sure to add it as soon as possible

@MsJubilee Ok turns out yours isn't accepting friend request so my tag is Jace#1039 if you wish to add me

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