A sizable Nintendo Direct is expected next month — and potentially as soon as next week, according to one report.
Word of a major announcement showcase comes hot on the heels of two other, smaller Nintendo Direct broadcasts dedicated to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (held last weekend) and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (due tomorrow, January 29).
Aside from those, Nintendo is still to lay out the majority of its 2026 Switch 2 release slate — something fans now expect to find out sooner rather than later. Indeed, noted Nintendo leaker NatetheHate, who correctly reported the Switch 2’s big reveal date last year, has leant his weight behind the Direct landing next week, likely on Thursday, February 5.
Speak this week via his podcast, the leaker said he expected this year to feature a swathe of smaller Nintendo IPs, before the long-awaited next 3D Mario platformer finally ground pounds onto Switch 2 in time for the holidays.
This is something that is also widely expected by fans, not least because it has been almost nine years since Switch blockbuster Super Mario Odyssey, but also because Nintendo’s 3D Mario team has been conspicuously quiet ever since. While some veterans did assist with Donkey Kong Bananza, many did not — including the company’s usual Mario producer Yoshiaki Koizumi.
Will we see a first glimpse of Nintendo’s big Mario game next month? So far, no leaker has made that claim. Still, there’s a feeling among fans that 2026 will be when it finally debuts, to give the Switch 2 a boost as it enters its sophomore year.
Another major boost expected this holiday will be the widely-anticipated next-generation of Pokémon games, details of which were spilled online last year via hacked information taken from the servers of developer Game Freak. Like Mario, fans expect these to also arrive later in 2026 — which is the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise.
One final expectation among fans touched on by NatetheHate is for Nintendo to discuss more of its plans for Mario Kart World, the Switch 2 launch title it charged $80 for which landed to solid if not spectacular reviews. Many fans have criticized the game’s empty open world, and Nintendo has recently begun tweaking parts of it, but there is also an assumption that Nintendo will add major new content to the title over time.
Will this arrive in the form of paid DLC, as with Mario Kart 8? It’s possible. But NatetheHate makes the point that pushing the game’s total buy-in closer to $100 may ultimately prove unpalatable to Nintendo fans, particularly after many feel the base game is still yet to justify its $80 asking price.
Here’s hoping we don’t have too much longer to wait until Nintendo does nail down its next major Direct date. Pokémon’s big announcement show, meanwhile, is now an annual event taking place on the franchise’s anniversary — February 27.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
