It turns out Cooking Mama has been actually been preparing her next game for quite a while now. After Australian and German classifications were thought to have lifted the lid on the new Switch game, Cooking Mana: Cookstar, it's now been discovered this same title was originally announced way back in February.

In a press release issued by Planet Digital Partners, the game is referred to as "Cooking Mama: Coming Home To Mama" and is described as a reboot of the top-selling family-friendly series. It's expected to be available in Fall 2019 and will add a vegetarian mode. Here are the details:

Also new to Cooking Mama will be a “Vegetarian Mode” where players who do not wish to prepare meals with meat ingredients will be able to cook creative, alternate meatless recipes. Players will be able to cook in both “Traditional Mode” and “Vegetarian Mode” and blend motion gestures from the Nintendo Switch with traditional controls for an immersive meal prep and cooking experience through each minigame played.

The rest of the press release explains how the game will implement "blockchain" technology on major consoles. Cooking Mama is also said to be the first of three games in Planet Digital's portfolio that is being funded by digital preferred shares:

Planet Digital will democratize game funding for investors, who for the first time ever can own equity in a portfolio of console games.

Here's what Planet Digital Partners president Steve Grossman had to say about the integration of blockchain tech:

Gaming is a $135 billion dollar industry with little opportunity to invest outside of the large public game publishers. We are using blockchain to add new innovative gameplay that investors can now have equity in. Putting aspects of Cooking Mama on-chain will take the user experience to a whole new level, reinvigorate a popular game franchise that many grew up with and give investors an opportunity to make handsome returns, through a digital preferred share offering.

And below are the key blockchain components for the new Cooking Mama game. Note how there is mention of promotional events and in-game currency rewards:

Unique Blockchain Private-Keys – Each purchased copy of the game will have unique IDs which will be managed directly through the game’s internal wallet storage. Players will be able to focus on Cooking Mama’s user experience rather than cryptographic key management.

Private-Key Enabled Balanced DRM – Traditional DRM limits the ability to copy games, while private-keys on blockchain protocols allows easy registration. These combined items provide greater proof of ownership to legitimate owners of a game, while also allowing them to resell games both digitally and in traditional retail outlets.

Enhanced Multiplayer Experience with Dual Expression – This feature, when enabled, makes every copy of a game subtly different and personal to a user. It utilizes the private-key to change expression algorithms for characters, ingredients and cooking methods.

Securing Online Events – For promotional events, player records and participation can be tracked while maintaining privacy. In addition, hashes of the running game can be recorded to ensure the game has not been altered to create an unfair advantage.

Digital Assets, Rewards, Recognition – Users will be rewarded with in-game currency (or points, experience, and other items) or earn recognition and certificates. These could be provided by the game, other players, or third parties that host tournaments or other promotions.

Are you excited for the return of Cooking Mama? What are your thoughts about this new information? Leave a comment below.