Nintendo leakers tease the biggest Direct in months
Could Nintendo close out the summer with a surprise announcement?
Nintendo's Indie World Showcase came and went on August 18 without as much as a peep about when the company's next big Direct presentation will be held.
It's now been almost a year since the company has hosted a general Direct, the major type of digital presentation the company used before the time of social distancing to announce major new releases and tease upcoming titles for its major franchises. Recent new leaks, however, indicate the longest Nintendo Direct drought in history could soon come to an end.
A duo of gaming industry insiders has claimed that Nintendo could be preparing a general Direct sometime after August 27. VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb and trusted Resetera leaker NateDrake dropped juicy hints about Nintendo's next big showcase only days apart from each other.
NateDrake's prediction gained traction on Reddit August 15 after they cryptically teased that Nintendo was getting ready to announce something on the 28th along with fellow Nintendo leaker C.Tsubasa. Before this, NateDrake accurately predicted the release date of Paper Mario: The Origami King weeks before Nintendo launched the game.
Redditors have taken the leakers' Resetera exchange to mean that there will be some kind of Nintendo announcement late in August, but some were skeptical about the day August 28 lands on.
"I do agree that this seems like an obvious hint, however the 28th is a Friday which would be unusual," commented one Reddit user.
Nintendo has typically avoided scheduling Directs on Fridays, however, after the company began working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic its presentation schedule became more sporadic. Recently, the company has begun airing Direct Minis where it launched third-party titles or standalone first-party titles instead of grouping them together in a single, lengthy presentation. We could see Nintendo break tradition this time around and VentureBeat's Grubb backed up NateDrake's general timeline.
The reporter updated his ongoing list of summer game reveals and announcements on August 17 and added a "WILD CARD: NINTENDO" entry at the very top. He didn't immediately specify when this alleged Direct might happen but he clarified in a follow-up tweet after his followers asked for a date range.
"I'd say between now and the middle of September," he said in response to a tweet. So it seems that a notable Direct could be on the way.
VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb updated his ongoing list of summer game announcements to include a floating Nintendo Direct.
The Inverse Analysis — While both Nintendo insiders seem confident that the company is planning something for a presentation circa late-August or mid-September, neither specified exactly what kind of Direct it could be.
Grubb previously reported that Nintendo "isn't planning a Direct at all for now" back in May, so this rumored August-September presentation might be another Direct Mini or game-specific update — but that previous claim was over three months ago. However, it's impossible to ignore the fact that Nintendo has two massive games in the works: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and Metroid Prime 4. The company hasn't offered any updates about either in quite some time.
Even if fans don't get a release date on either many gamers are at least expecting another update or teaser to learn about how these games are shaping up. We'll soon learn if the longest Direct drought in Nintendo history will continue or not.
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