Nintendo has confirmed that its next Nintendo Direct will take place this week
The next Direct will likely feature Mario 40th Anniversary announcements
Nintendo has confirmed that its next Nintendo Direct presentation will take place this week.
According to Nintendo, the stream will be broadcast online on Friday, September 12 at 9am ET / 2pm BST, and feature “roughly 60 minutes of information on upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch games” – a runtime which makes it the longest ever general Nintendo Direct.
VGC reported last month that sources had told us a Nintendo Direct presentation was planned for mid-September.
While the full contents of the presentation are currently unknown, the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros is on Saturday, which suggests new Mario-related announcements are likely.
During the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros five years ago, Nintendo released Super Mario 3D World: Bowser’s Fury, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a Super Mario Bros Game & Watch, and the time-limited Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario Bros 35.
At the time of writing, there are no known Mario games in development, meaning it’s likely the company’s 40th anniversary plans will be shared during the Direct.
It’s also likely that this Nintendo Direct will finally reveal the announcement of Metroid Prime 4 Beyond’s release date.
Further reading
The game, which is still officially planned for this year, was rated by South Korea’s classification board in July, rated by the ESRB last month, and rated again by Brazil’s classification board today.
While ratings news is rarely an exact indicator of a release date, it does suggest that we are likely to hear news about the game soon.
The Direct will also be Nintendo’s latest opportunity to confirm new Switch and Switch 2 games in development. Three Nintendo games are confirmed to release by the end of this year – Pokémon Legends: Z-A on October 16, Kirby Air Riders on November 20, and Metroid Prime 4.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is set to release this Winter (which could mean late 2025 or early 2026), and Splatoon Raiders has also been announced with no release window. Rhythm Heaven Groove and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream are coming to the original Switch in 2026, but beyond that no other first-party Nintendo games are currently known.
