With Hollow Knight: Silksong Finally Released, Nintendo Direct Viewers Are Looking for a New Game to Hope For and Then Get Disappointed Over

There’s less than 24 hours to go until a major Nintendo Direct, but there’s something very different this time. Yes, Hollow Knight: Silksong has finally been released — leaving fans searching for a fresh game to pin all their hopes and inevitable disappointment on.

With a Metroid Prime 4: Beyond release date seeming fairly assured, fans are suggesting some of Nintendo’s second-tier series to hope for next. This includes Star Fox (missing in action since 2017’s Star Fox 2), Golden Sun (sunset in 2010) and F-Zero (which has only seen the bitesize release of F-Zero 99 since 2004). And what about Mother 3?

Of course, tomorrow’s Nintendo Direct will likely feature non-Nintendo games too. Is it time to hope for news on Beyond Good & Evil 2, Ubisoft’s space-set sequel that now holds the Guinness World Record for the video game longest in development? You never know. (You probably do know.)

This week’s big Nintendo Direct airs tomorrow, Friday September 12, at 6am Pacific, 9am Eastern or 2pm UK time. It’s set to be a bumper show, too, with an hour of announcements — and fan hopes of some big reveals by Nintendo are high.

Beyond this year (and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is still slated for 2025, last we checked) we know relatively little of what Nintendo has cooking for Switch 2. There’s spinoff Splatoon: Raiders and FromSoftware exclusive The Duskbloods. But beyond those, Nintendo’s plans for the future remain under wraps.

The timing of a Direct tomorrow is also interesting — as many fans have pointed out — as it comes on the eve of Super Mario Bros.’ 40th anniversary. Nintendo celebrated the game’s last big birthday with a series of special launches, including the time-limited Super Mario 3D All-Stars Collection.

Could we see something similar announced tomorrow (hopefully including Galaxy 2)? Or a glimpse of the next major 3D Mario game? Or how about some news on next year’s Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel? Tune in tomorrow to find out what is there, as IGN reports live. (No one suggest Silksong 2.)

Earlier this month, a former Nintendo employee claimed that the company knew it no longer needed to create as many fresh franchises — as fans were already waiting long enough for new entries in existing series, which could simply be adapted to fit new gameplay styles.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social