Some newly surfaced rumors suggest that a Nintendo Direct is happening next month, with one particular claim positioning it for February 10. This would mark the first Nintendo livestream of 2026.
The most recent Nintendo Direct took place on November 12, though it was an outlier by the company’s usual standards, as it focused entirely on The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. For the last game-focused Direct, one would have to go back to October 23, when Nintendo held an event dedicated to Kirby Air Riders.
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First Nintendo Direct of 2026 Rumored for February 10
The first Nintendo Direct of 2026 may take place on February 10, according to a new report by BeeFun. The French leaker not only committed to a concrete date but even identified the supposed star of the show, claiming that the upcoming event will see Nintendo reveal a new 3D Super Mario game for the Switch 2. They have also described the February 10 show as “huge.”
A February Nintendo Direct Is a Safe Bet
Setting aside the specific date for a moment, the core claim of this leak—that a Nintendo Direct will happen in February—is an exceedingly safe bet. Since Nintendo introduced the livestream event format in late 2011, there has been at least one February Direct in 10 of the 14 years that followed. The Japanese gaming giant is also currently on a six-year streak of holding February Directs, with 2018 being the last exception. Every year since 2012 has featured a major Nintendo Direct in either January or February, and in some cases (such as 2015 and 2017) there were Directs in both months. Given that historical context, the likelihood of a February 2026 Nintendo Direct appears high, and one seems all but guaranteed if no such event occurs before the end of January.
However, It May Be Too Early for a New 3D Mario
While Nintendo may indeed be preparing an announcement or three for next month, the other part of BeeFun’s claim appears to be a much bigger stretch. It’s true that it has been nearly a decade since the last 3D Mario game, which arrived on the Switch within the console’s first year. However, the studio behind Super Mario Galaxy has just recently wrapped up work on Donkey Kong Bananza, one of the Switch 2’s major launch-year exclusives. If a new 3D Mario title is truly planned for a February 2026 reveal, it would likely have to come from a different team than the one traditionally responsible for the mainline series. While not impossible, such an approach would be uncharacteristic of Nintendo, which typically keeps the primary development lead for primary entries in its flagship franchises consistent across generations, rather than shifting that role to an entirely different studio.
Just as Nintendo Direct Rumors Emerge, New Call of Duty Leak Mentions Nintendo
In a separate but possibly related turn of events, references to Nintendo have recently been discovered in the latest version of Call of Duty HQ. This could signal that a Call of Duty title for the Switch 2 is finally on the horizon, more than three years after Microsoft and Nintendo signed an agreement to bring the franchise to Nintendo platforms for at least a decade. That deal, part of Microsoft’s effort to appease regulators reviewing its then-pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard, has yet to result in any Call of Duty releases on Nintendo systems. As of 2026, the most recent COD entry available on a Nintendo platform remains Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Ghosts, released for the Wii U in November 2013.
Looking at more likely candidates for a potential appearance in a hypothetical February 10 Nintendo Direct, the list includes Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil Requiem, Reanimal, Ys X: Proud Nordics, and Mario Tennis Fever. All are scheduled for release between February 12 and the end of the month, making them plausible contenders for Nintendo’s first 2026 showcase—assuming such an event takes place beforehand.
