Nintendo Direct Switch Kirby Planet Robobot
Image: Nintendo Life

February usually means a couple of things for us Nintendo fans: a disappointing Pokémon Presents showcase, and the first Nintendo Direct of the year (also, a Kirby game is normally right around the corner, but that's not all that important to this discussion).

Pokémon is a no-brainer, obviously, but in the year of our lord 2025, there's every chance that a Direct won't be plonked in our laps in the coming weeks. Why? The Nintendo Switch 2.

In case you somehow missed it, we got our first official look at the Switch 2 earlier this month. In true Nintendo fashion, we got a two-minute trailer, a brief note on backwards compatibility, and a glimpse of what we're assuming is Mario Kart 9, before the company went speeding off into the sunset, shouting, "No further info until our April 2nd Direct. Okay? Byeeeeee".

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After a swift two minutes of looking at what's behind the curtain, Nintendo covered it up again and left us with three months of waiting. What's more, it put a date on a showcase months in advance — a very non-Nintendo move — leaving us to wonder whether that April presentation is the next Direct or merely another Direct.

So, back to the issue at hand: February. Nintendo has hosted some kind of Direct every February since 2019. With the exception of 2020's Animal Crossing-focused event and last year's Partner Showcase, these February presentations have all been full-fat deals, too.

February Nintendo Direct stars
Just a taste of some February Direct alumni... — Image: Nintendo Life

In the past, these showcases are where we've caught the first glimpses of Metroid Prime Remastered (including a shadow drop), Splatoon 3, Skyward Sword HD; and the list goes on. In short, these Feb Directs are usually big events, where Nintendo comes out into the new year with all guns blazing.

But 2025 is a little different. The 'firing on all cylinders' approach has come and gone with the Switch 2 reveal, and we'd have to imagine that the real big guns are reserved for whatever April has in store. If all of the really exciting news is just a couple of months away, what does Nintendo do in February?

Something focused entirely on Switch 1 and its line-up for the rest of the year feels like the most obvious approach. At the time of writing, we have no first-party release scheduled for February and only Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition dated for March after that. Sure, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokémon Legends: Z-A are both listed for 2025, but it could still be months until we get them — and both may well be cross-gen.

A little first-party Nintendo Direct could be a nice way to send off the current console and reassure owners that support will continue for a while. The chances of a new Mario or Zelda are slim to non-existent (we imagine they're reserved for the next console at this point), but rolling out some of the company's B-tier franchises could be a neat way to keep the fire stoked while we all wait for Switch 2 — remasters of both Kirby: Planet Robobot and Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War have been mooted for a while, and we still believe that Nintendo has Metroid Prime 2 and 3 Remastered tucked away somewhere.

Of course, such announcements could just land via a social media post (à la Xenoblade Chronicles X's reveal), but if we're assuming Switch 1 and its ~150 million units will be supported for a while yet, there are still a good few months to fill. Heck, just look at how long Nintendo kept churning out 3DS games after the Switch's launch.

An Indie World or Partner Showcase could help fill the void, though surely most big studios for the latter are focused on Switch 2 by now, and the former hardly inspires much hope of a 'stacked' Switch 1 calendar. Of course, there's always the chance that a heavy hitter like Silksong or Deltarune Chapter 3 & 4 could appear at either, but both have massively outgrown the Indie World roster by this point and, as we say, Switch 2 is right there.

Look, trying to predict Nintendo is a fool's game, and we are the fools, but February is right around the corner and we want to know how much our expectations need to be tempered.

Toy Story Andy Meme - Switch 2
Image: Nintendo Life

So, what do you think? Do you think a Nintendo Direct is on the cards for February 2025, or is it going to be radio silence? Maybe a Partner Showcase or Indie World will carry the flame in the coming weeks instead? You can let us know your answer in the following poll and then take to the comments to share your predictions.

Do you think there will be a Nintendo Direct in February?

What did you vote for? Let us know your best guess for Nintendo's February plans in the comments.