Former Nintendo staff have branded the recent leak of upcoming Switch 2 game details as a “worst-case scenario” for the company, and its frequent aim of surprising fans.
Speaking via their podcast, ex-Nintendo Minute presenters Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang addressed the recent high-profile leak of Nintendo’s supposed upcoming Switch 2 release slate by prolific internet tipster NatetheHate — a leak that just received further proof of its legitimacy with Nintendo’s unveiling of Star Fox.
While slightly later than anticipated, Star Fox’s Switch 2 debut had accurately been described as a classic experience for the franchise (it is a remake of Star Fox 64) due out within the next few months (it launches next month, on June 25).
Initially discussing whether Nintendo has deliberately moved Star Fox’s unveiling back a week to derail Natethehate’s predicted reveal timing, Ellis suggested this was unlikely due to ever-changing marketing timelines, and the need to work around Japan’s annual Golden Week holiday. Rather than arrive before this, at the end of April, the announcement dropped immediately after, in the first week of May.
“I don’t really buy that [it was intentionally delayed],” Ellis said. “It was just a slight shift to plans. And at some point, Nintendo can’t… It’s like: ‘we don’t negotiate with terrorists, we can’t let someone dictate our plans’.”
That said, the pair agreed that the leak had been hugely damaging to the company, and was likely further fuelling a change from releasing details in large-scale Nintendo Direct broadcasts, to more frequent, smaller reveals that were released without warning.
“Nintendo is shifting tactics in a world where leaks are more prevalent,” Yang said.
“If you’re Nintendo, you’re obviously pulling your hair out at this,” Ellis agreed. “This is a worst-case scenario. You’re the company that banks on surprising people. The element of surprise is a major factor to why announcements are impactful and now that has been taken away, presumably, for a while.”
“It messes with their expectation management,” Yang continued. “There’s a very strong focus on that element. [On the] one hand is the surprise and delight and the other is the expectation management. Both of these have been compromised now from the leaks.”
The fact that many fans now expect a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake this Christmas now meant Nintendo had a harder job meeting expectations built up over months, with many fans now already forming opinions on how the game should be updated, and how it should look. Inevitably, not all of those fans will have their expectations met.
“[There’s] the idea of this Nintendo Direct era being a bit antiquated because of these leaks and because of the way people receive information,” Yang suggested. “They may just have to rethink the way they share information. The shadow-dropped Direct was a good idea. The Nintendo Today drops are fun little surprises — they did that with the Splatoon Raiders trailer.
“That hype is now very much dwindled, because you already knew all the things going in,” Yang concluded. “We felt it too. We certainly felt it when everything about the Switch 2 leaked last year and we saw the first-look video. I was like, I already saw that. It looked exactly like what we saw. That is a human reaction to seeing something that is not new, you know? So I get it.”
For its part, Nintendo has not directly addressed the leak, though has confirmed it has multiple unannounced Switch 2 games set for launch later this year.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
