So looks like this week is ruled out for Direct, crazy if the remake does drop tomorrow outside of an event. Next week is Xbox Developer Direct so the last week of January is the only possible week for something prior to the earnings report.
It’s either gonna be before or after the Olympics.
So you’re looking at the last week of January or the first week of February. If it’s not one of those, then I wouldn’t expect one until the last week of February.
I don’t see them waiting until March.
So yea, pretty straightforward.
(I guess they could do one next week, but that seems early.)
There’s currently only 4 Switch 2 3rd party games with release dates post-March:
High on Life 2 - April 20th
Pragmata - April 24th
R-Type Dimensions 3 - May 19th
007 First Light - May 27th
While Nintendo can easily just use Nintendo Today to drop release dates for 1st party games, I don’t see them waiting until March to share 3rd party news considering just how few games there are. At the least there’s got to be a Partner Showcase in January/February.
Looking at history and using Nintendo's list of what they count as a direct, here are all the presentations they've had by the first week of March (note that Pokemon and indies stuff is usually not counted in Nintendo's list):
2012 - Feb 22
2013 - Jan 8 and Jan 23 and Feb 14
2014 - Feb 13
2015 - Jan 14
2016 - Mar 3
2017 - Jan 18
2018 - Jan 11
2019 - Feb 23 and Feb 27
2020 - Feb 20
2021 - Feb 17
2022 - Feb 9
2023 - Feb 8
2024 - Feb 21
2025 - None
@rallydefault For whatever it's worth, the 2022 direct was right in the middle of the Olympics.
It’s surprising how little we’ve seen of the Galaxy movie, by this time in the first movie’s cycle we already had 2 Directs (October 2022 and November 2022) as well as a special teaser at the Game Awards. Meanwhile this time around there was just the initial trailer in the September 2025 general Direct and a slightly extended version of that same trailer at the 2025 Game Awards.
@Grumblevolcano They can't just have a Partner Showcase this quarter, there needs to be a mainline Direct. If they have a Partner Showcase that's just going to signal we're not getting another mainline until June at the earliest. With Switch 2 underperforming for the holiday and the lack of big 1st party titles specifically being a subject brought up at the recent investor's meeting, Nintendo needs to reveal something. They should reveal a big heavy hitter for 2026 that isn't just Pokemon Gen 10, heck I say they should even tease the big heavy hitter for 2027 in this Direct. The lineup's been in a somewhat dire state since the launch window and they really didn't have a big holiday game like they needed (which is probably a factor in why they had such a poor November alongside other factors like the cost of living crisis). They need to show us some of those big games. The majority of Nintendo fans are probably not going to be buying a Switch 2 for all of these Switch 2 Editions and niche sellers like Metroid Prime, Kirby Air Ride, and Fire Emblem, they're waiting for games like the big new 3D Mario, the big new 3D Zelda, Smash 6, the new Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion 4, Splatoon 4, etc. Switch 2 is in desperate need of more announcements of that caliber to turn things around. The inevitable Gen 10 announcement on Pokemon Day will help, but I don't think it'll be enough for this year.
@rallydefault Given that 2 of the last 3 February directs have been right after the financial reports, first week of February seems pretty likely. I guess we'll see if Nintendo goes back to being predictable.
@Bolt_Strike Not really, in 2018 they did a Mini in January and a general Direct in March so if there’s a smaller Direct in January/February there could be a bigger Direct in April/May.
I think having the new structure being general Directs in April and September could work. March 2025 was pretty much a Mini in disguise with how little 1st party presence there was (Prime 4, Legends Z-A, Tomodachi Life, Rhythm Heaven).
@FishyS
I think it will be sometime after the first week of February due to the new Mario Tennis coming out on 2/12. I noticed a Direct usually airs after a first party title is released.
I was also thinking the first week after Mario Tennis but I was reminded that the Virtual Boy NSO library launches then.
That's on a Tuesday though so perhaps we could see a Direct air on the 18-19th?
It came to mind that every time they’ve closed a September Direct with an RPG, said RPG released in May. Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition released in May 2020, TotK released in May 2023 and the TTYD remake released in May 2024.
Maybe Fortune’s Weave is May even though we already have 3 games with a vague Spring release window (Yoshi, Wonder Switch 2 Edition, Tomodachi Life). It would explain why they chose to release Path of Radiance so soon in the year on NSO.
@Grumblevolcano TotK is not an RPG though, it's an action adventure game. It has RPG elements (really a lot of games do now, mechanics such as skill trees and customizable inventories are becoming widespread to a lot of genres), but it's missing some core RPG elements like a party of (often customizable) characters and combat ability tied to a character level up system (in Zelda combat strength is more tied to what gear you equip).
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Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?
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