The nextNintendoDirectmight happen in July, as recently indicated by a known industry insider. This stated timing would place it much closer toMicrosoft’s upcoming Xbox Games Showcasethat’s taking place later this week than many would expect.
Nintendo has so far held two Directs this year, one of which was dedicated toThe Super Mario Bros. Moviein March. Yet theFebruary 2023 Nintendo Directdidn’t disappoint, offering some 40 minutes of content from the company’s upcoming games. The event was largely focused on Switch titles releasing in the first half of 2023, with the general expectation being that Nintendo’s second first-party Direct of the year will happen in September, as was historically the case.
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Established industry insider Jeff Grubb recently shed some doubt on that theory, albeit indirectly; during the June 6 episode of the Giant Bombcast podcast, Grubb mentioned he’s been hearing rumors about “something” coming fromNintendothis July. Whether that’s a full-fledged Nintendo Direct is unclear, if not dubious, with the insider speculating that the company might very well be planning a Direct Mini, one focused on its partner developers, or one that fits both of these criteria. Grubb concluded that it would be “weird” for a full Nintendo Direct to happen next month, presumably because Nintendo hasn’t hosted such a July event since 2017.
If the company’s track record across the last half a decade is any indication, mid-September seems like a much more plausible window for the next Nintendo Direct. But that’s not to say Nintendo won’t have anything to share beforehand, starting with its post-launch content plans for the latestZeldagame, which will be two months old in July. For clarity, Nintendo unveiled its Expansion Pass forBreath of the Wildaround two months into that game’s release, so the notion ofTears of the KingdomDLCmaking an appearance in July isn’t outside the realm of possibility.
The same goes for a Direct Mini focused onPikmin 4, seeing how that first-party Switch exclusive is scheduled to debut on July 21 and possibly has more unannounced features to show off. Grubb’s aforementioned theory about a third-party Direct Mini is another potential candidate for the rumored July slot. However, Nintendo holds its Partner Showcases quite irregularly, so their timings don’t exactly yield clear patterns to extrapolate from.
That notwithstanding, the company probably wouldn’t have many difficulties populating such an event lineup come July, as its last Direct already featured plenty of third-party releases that are yet to hit the market; games like theSwitch-exclusiveDisney Illusion Island, Level-5’sDeca Police, and Capcom’sPhantom Trick: Phantom Detectiveare all on the horizon and could likely benefit from some Nintendo-sanctioned marketing in July.
