Will we start to see other third parties follow suit?

It has been confirmed that Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion will be the first third-party retail release in North America to get the retail/eShop treatment.

When Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion launches on the 3DS on November 18th, gamers will be able to download it off of the eShop as well as buy it in stores, Disney Interactive revealed at an Epic Mickey event in Disneyland.

This news had been previously speculated after an E3 2012 Investor Q&A showed a logo for Epic Mickey, as well as logos for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, Kingdom Hearts 3D, and Scribblenauts Unlimited, in a slide where eShop retail downloads were detailed. It was later revealed that the digital comment only referred to first-party games.

In Europe, New Super Mario Bros. 2, New Art Academy, Mario Kart 7, Ocarina of Time 3D, Starfox and Super Mario 3D Land are all available to download on the eShop. All future Nintendo-published titles will be released on the eShop as well. So does this mean we’ll start seeing other third party titles hitting the eShop too? Seems likely.

It is unknown if Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion will also be released on the eShop in Europe and Japan. More as we hear it.