In the days of yore, console makers would hold giant press conferences in the run-up to E3. They eventually stopped doing that and E3 has since died, but its residual spirit feels stronger than usual this year, especially if rumors of a Nintendo Direct coming later in June are accurate. A Switch 2 anniversary showcase to bookend Summer Game Fest would be an unexpected treat, especially for fans hoping to see what the Mario maker has planned for the second half of 2026.
The rumors of an upcoming Nintendo Direct started earlier this week when Giant Bomb‘s Jeff Grubb suggested one would arrive on June 9. He said on the latest episode of the Last of the Nintendogs podcast that he was hearing it would air sometime in the morning on that day. Since then, leaker NateTheHate has confirmed he’s heard a similar rumor. “We’ll be getting that answer very soon,” he said on his podcast. “From what I have heard, the Nintendo Direct will take place next week, the second week of June, and just to be clear, that is the week of the eighth.”
The company has often held a Nintendo Direct in June, though in more recent years, its pattern of showcases and announcements has been all over the place. Lately, we’re as likely to get a big announcement in a tweet or the Nintendo Today! news app as we are in a regular Direct. But if the rumors are true, fans will be happy to hear that the company is returning to its roots a bit with a more conventionally timed event. The closeness to Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest might make this year’s trailer bonanza feel almost like a proper E3.
And also, the company has a lot of things to still announce for 2026. Based on NateTheHate’s previous rumors, Nintendo is planning to ship a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for this holiday. It also apparently has a second Star Fox game in development. We also still don’t have a release date for Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, and Nintendo previously teased that a few of its planned fall releases hadn’t been revealed yet.
The Switch 2’s first year has also been a bit lighter on big third-party ports than I expected. Some of those, like Borderlands 4, were shelved, while others like Elden Ring are still coming but remain MIA. A number of games like Red Dead Redemption 2 have been rumored to be coming to Nintendo’s latest console, but we still haven’t seen anything firm. Of course, all Nintendo really needs to do is give players a whiff of a new 3D Mario and all will be forgiven.