Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

I feel like we'll get a game specific direct in January, either for Splatoon Raiders or Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. One of those two will probably be released in late April or early May. I anticipate Wonder NS2E to be released in late March, Tomodachi Life to be released in May, and Yoshi to be released in June. We have plenty of games already announced, so I'm not sure that we'll see a general direct until around June.

@Grumblevolcano The difference there is that Side Order was DLC and Raiders is a full game. Raiders might follow a schedule closer to Splatoon 3, which was revealed 19 months ahead of its final release.

I think we'll be waiting until February to get any news then it'll be pretty stacked. Between Mario Tennis Fever Overview Trailers, February Direct, pokemon presents, and mario movie news. It'll be kinda the start for the 2026 hype cycle. I'm guessing January will just have the marketing for Tennis and Pokopia and some light Animal Crossing stuff and be kinda boring otherwise

@Grumblevolcano i could see a random rhythm heaven trailer drop sometime in the next few weeks and it being given a March release date

@Bolt_Strike For all we know, Splatoon Raiders could be effectively a "Splatoon 3 DLC 3" that's standalone because Splatoon 3 getting a Switch 2 Edition would cause issues for the PvP side of things as a result of Switch 2 players having access to higher framerates and mouse controls. But whether it's a standalone DLC or a full price game, I think the fact that Splatoon 3 is still getting Splatfests and Big Runs is the biggest reason why Splatoon Raiders would be less likely to have a long gap between reveal and release.

On second thought, this idea solves the Smash dilemma. Have Smash Ultimate be the multiplayer Smash game for Switch 2 but not in the form of a Switch 2 Edition, instead a free update comparable to Splatoon 3 meanwhile the new Smash is a standalone Subspace Emissary style spinoff.

Fire Emblem is gonna be the big late Spring/early Summer game, for sure. The franchise has grown, but it's not big enough to be the Fall game yet. Splatoon Raiders is gonna come out earlier than that. It's gonna be right on the cusp between Q1/Q2, is my guess. And I agree with @Grumblevolcano - something about Raiders just strikes me as... not a super-huge game. I don't know. I LOVE Splatoon, but it does feel like a big DLC or maybe a smaller base single-player thing that they will continue to expand over time.

January - Animal Crossing S2, some big 3rd-party stuff like FF
February - Mario Tennis and other huge 3rd-party stuff like Resident Evil, DQ, etc.
March - Pokopia and MAYBE Splatoon Raiders

@UpsideDownRowlet
Mario Wonder S2 is technically listed as Q2 (according to Nintendolife), so you'd be looking at the April-June window. I do agree that it feels like it can come out sooner, though.

I think overall their bet is that Animal Crossing S2 is gonna sell insanely well (which it probably will) to keep people sated for the January/February slog.

Another thing to keep in mind for the timing of the Direct: My thought is they want to get it out there before the Winter Olympics start or at the least VERY early during the Olympics, especially if they have any Olympics game announcements. The opening ceremony is on February 6th, so I think we're gonna be getting a pretty early Direct - maybe even late January, a couple weeks after Animal Crossing is out.

@FishyS no doubt. I’m sure it’ll be something, but definitely not a big blowout.

@Grumblevolcano I've been of the opinion that S3's "Expansion Pass" was going to be much larger, but due to delays it was scaled down to just the new hubs and Side Order (which itself is much smaller than many expected). That would mean Raiders was likely going to be "Wave 3" before it got pushed off into being its own thing for Switch 2.

@rallydefault I think they're treating the 3rd party support as the big releases in the January - March window (e.g. FFVII Remake, RE9, MH Stories 3). If 3rd party support does well early on then 3rd parties have Nintendo's back whenever 1st party is in a quieter spot and Nintendo's already warned everyone that Switch 2 development is longer than Switch 1 development.

@Grumblevolcano
Yea, and I don’t blame them: the new Resident Evil alone is huge, but people like me are also stoked to finally get to play Final Fantasy and Elden Ring. Release date on Elden Ring will probably be in the next Direct.

https://www.nintendo.com/au/news-and-articles/games-coming-to...

Some updated (or maybe not updated) dates. Doesn't mention Splatoon raiders for some reason. I guess that's not verified 2026 yet.

Yoshi says quarter 2 in a different spot so probably not March even though it says Autumn/spring(in Northern hemisphere) here.

Nintendo today announced Pokémon anniversary special Feb 27th. Not a surprise but it is official now.

@RobLife1 The last time a Pokemon event was announced 2 months in advance, Nintendo skipped a general Direct for that season.

@Grumblevolcano Nintendo Today drops then a direct not until April could hurt momentum.

please stop with the idea that raiders is basically dlc wave 3, because now im gonna be worried it's gonna be a nothingburger game dear god why

@Grumblevolcano To be fair, it's just announcement of the 30th anniversary celebrations. No actual presentation or anything like that got announced. Not yet anyways.

@squiddu-real I doubt it'll be tiny or insignificant, but I would temper my expectations if you're expecting the biggest game ever

Even if it is, I don't think that would be bad at all. Side Order is seriously one of my favorite games to play, and it's definitely my favorite DLC of any Nintendo game.

Realistically, I can see it being a fairly large addon to Splatoon 3. Splatoon 3 is so solid in terms of gameplay, resources, systems, etc. - it's in an excellent place to function as a base game for all sorts of additions over the course of many, many years. The only complication to that is the Switch 2 exclusivity of Raiders... Well, you can view that as a complication or as a gentle nudge by Nintendo to upgrade lol

@RobLife1
It would be pretty insane, and I don't think they're gonna skip it for that reason. We'll get the usual Direct in late January or early February.

@rallydefault Splatoon 3: Side Order would've been my GOTY in 2024 if not for just being DLC.

I always wanted a story mode starring Deep Cut, but what would make this so disappointing is that we were all led to believe it'd be something special and a little grander. 3 already got a significant update that touched up the visuals quite a bit and added more content, and it was free. Why not just keep adding more free content updates?

Let's not forget that Raiders was announced as a spin-off game from the beginning. What in the world would make Nintendo suddenly reverse course on a game like this? Surely they're not worried about Raiders selling on its own? None of this makes sense to me.

Whatever; I'll try not to worry about it.

@CaleBoi25 i wasn't under the impression it'd be anything huge, spin-offs rarely are, but instead it made me worry it would go too far the opposite way.

@rallydefault side order was great but considering the genre it took notes from it failed to give enough variety to me. it felt more like they were banking on you using every weapon to make it worth it rather than actually making enough stuff that you'd want to discover yourself regardless.