September 2026 Nintendo Direct predictions
Posted on September 5, 2026 by Ethan in Features, Switch, Switch 2
Nintendo Direct season is officially upon us once again – September may as well be the “Nintendo Direct month”, given that every recent year minus 2024 has had one in some way, shape, or form. Though June’s Nintendo Direct was decent, revealing the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake and Xenoblade Genesis, some fans were left wanting more. We don’t expect to see super-heavy hitters like the next brand new 3D Zelda, Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, Splatoon, or even Pokemon Winds and Waves, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to potentially get excited about.
With that said, today we’re going over some of our Nintendo Direct predictions as well as covering some leaks that have been circulating lately. That means there are probably spoilers involved, so be warned.
More Zelda: Ocarina of Time (of course)
Nintendo has confirmed two Directs for this week: a Zelda-themed one on September 8, and a full general Direct on September 9. We don’t expect to see much of Ocarina of Time during the latter, but the Zelda Direct is 30 minutes long, so we’re looking at a big blowout of information on the new remake.
At the time of writing, all we’ve got are a vague release date for this year and a five-second clip of Link. We’re expecting gameplay, a definitive release date, a special Nintendo Switch 2 console with unique Joy-Con designs, a Switch 2 Pro Controller themed after Zelda, and… maybe an amiibo or something? Who knows, but in any case, we’re excited to see how Nintendo modernized this classic. Is it a 1-to-1 remake, and are there new features? Either way, we’ll learn all of those and more in the Zelda Direct that’s been confirmed for September 8. We wouldn’t be surprised to see something like Twilight Princess ported to Nintendo Switch Online, either.
We wrote an in-depth editorial on what we’d want to see from an Ocarina of Time remake earlier this year. In case you missed it, you can check that out here.
2D Metroid
This seems like a lock, too. Or rather, it’s more a matter of when this happens, not if. Theoretically, it’s possible that this skips the September Direct and shows up somewhere else, but it definitely seems to be happening.
Metroid Ravenous could be the sequel to Metroid Dread and the next entry in the 2D half of the series, and its existence was leakedastic way to show off Nintendo Switch 2’s 120 FPS support, plus if it’s somehow better than Metroid Dread, it has the potential to be one of the greatest games in the whole series. Which would be fantastic, given that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond disappointed hardcore fans in many ways
No Pokemon Winds and Waves
To our understanding, Pokemon Winds and Waves are still far away – possibly releasing as late as November 2027. That’s a good thing, because we absolutely do not want another Scarlet and Violet launch situation.
That being said, we don’t expect to hear anything about the new games until Pokemon Day in February. Maybe we’ll hear about Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald ports arriving on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2? There have been rumors about these classic titles coming, but so far nothing has materialized.
Pikmin 4 Switch 2 Edition
Pikmin 4 received a random update last year that added some small new features, but nothing in terms of Nintendo Switch 2 performance boosts. Interestingly, the game does not currently work with Handheld Mode Boost, which is something shared with Pikmin 3 Deluxe. Coincidentally, Pikmin 3 Deluxe did just receive a free update for Nintendo Switch 2 that boosts its resolution, so maybe its lack of compatibility with Handheld Mode Boost really was foreshadowing that. Pikmin 4, however, could use both a resolution boost and a frame rate boost. And maybe a few new levels or something while we’re at it? It’s got the potential to be one of the prettiest games on Switch 2, if it gets that boost!
Nintendo Switch Online stuff
It’s been a while since Nintendo introduced a new platform to Nintendo Switch Online. Well, the company introduced the Virtual Boy in March, but what we really mean is that it’s been a while since Nintendo introduced a new platform to NSO that people actually play.
At minimum, maybe we’ll get a roadmap of future Nintendo 64 and GameCube titles. Nintendo 64 is still missing Diddy Kong Racing and Super Smash Bros., while GameCube is missing a lot of games. It has Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness right now, but not Pokemon Colosseum, which is odd because the former is a sequel to the latter. Game Boy Advance is missing the Mario sports games and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, so that’s another possible announcement.
Ideally, they’d add DS as a new platform. How would it work in docked mode? No idea, but they can probably figure it out. Maybe with a peripheral or something like that. DS games worked in TV mode on Wii U because the GamePad had a touch screen and a microphone, but the Joy-Con and Pro Controllers of course do not have a touch screen and microphone.
Plenty of third parties
We’re also bound to see tons of third parties during the next Nintendo Direct. Monster Hunter Wilds has already been announced for Nintendo Switch 2, but we could get our first official look at gameplay as well as a definitive release date. Hi-Fi Rush, Guardians of the Galaxy, Red Dead Redemption 2, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, The Division, and Rainbow Six Siege have all been rumored at different points in the past, so we wouldn’t be too surprised to see any of them show up here. Others like Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven Rhave also been spotted, but have not yet been announced.
Miscellaneous predictions
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort are Nintendo’s next two games, so we’d expect to hear something about them, even if they’re only mentioned briefly. Maybe Nintendo Switch Sports Resort will get post-launch updates or something along those lines?
Another idea is Mario Kart World DLC – the game is over one year old at this point, and while the base game is a fantastic start, it’s definitely starting to fall behind. Donkey Kong Bananza and Pokemon Pokopia have both received DLC, and even Kirby Air Riders still gets events with exclusive cosmetics, and it feels like Mario Kart World doesn’t get a ton of new content in comparison. Speaking of which, Pokopia’s second wave of DLC is due for late 2026, so they could give us a release date on that if they wanted.
Next up, both a new Luigi’s Mansion and a new WarioWare are almost certainly in the works. A few months ago, we’d have predicted Luigi’s Mansion 4 would come out this year, but since Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is already releasing in October, the game would have to release after spooky season which seems like a slight misstep. WarioWare hasn’t received a new entry since Move It in 2023, and given that Get It Together came out in 2021, it would make sense to get another game soon.
Of course, we can’t really expect the next Nintendo Direct to have a ton of first-party blowout announcements, given how long it takes for games to release. If we had to guess, we’d say the next super-heavy hitter would probably be 3D Mario, but that feels more like a summer reveal in terms of scope. Though, with Switch 2’s recent price increase, Nintendo may feel the need to justify its new price with some awesome announcements, and even a logo and small gameplay clip would be enough to generate tons of hype. So who knows!
What do you think we’ll see in the next Nintendo Direct? Let us know in the comments down below.
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