What to expect from the February 2023 Nintendo Direct — and how to watch

Nintendo doesn’t mind announcing its Direct livestream presentations on short notice. After all, its highly anticipated 2023 lineup gives it some leeway with what it can expect from its fans. It’s up to this February Direct to set our expectations for the first half of the year. The company already started the year with Fire Emblem: Engage, which is part of such a popular IP that it’s hard to call it a flop, even when its story wasn’t as good as Fire Emblem: Three Houses. We’ll have to wait and see what other games will push its sales up into the new year. Here’s everything we know about the February 2023 Nintendo Direct.

When is the February 2023 Nintendo Direct start time?

The February 2023 Nintendo Direct will stream live on February 8, 2023, at 5 p.m. Eastern. According to the official Nintendo post, the livestream will last approximately 40 minutes and focus on games released in the first half of 2023.

No worries if you can’t make the exact time, though. You can still watch the VOD after it ends.

How to watch the February 2023 Nintendo Direct

The February 2023 Nintendo Direct streams directly from the Nintendo YouTube channel. Thankfully, YouTube automatically turns livestreams into videos. The February 2023 Direct should still appear as a video for anyone who tunes in after the scheduled time.

The February Direct placeholder video is already scheduled for the time listed above (5 p.m. Eastern). Nintendo fans can subscribe to notifications ahead of time and get reminded via notification once it’s live.

What to expect from the February 2023 Nintendo Direct

The February 2023 Nintendo Direct features upcoming games with release dates in the first half of 2023. If we consider exactly half a year, anything before July is fair game.

Here are just a few convincing candidates for the February 2023 Direct:

• Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe — A Nintendo Switch port of the beloved Wii game of the same name. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a 1- to 4-player platformer starring Kirby, Waddle Dee, Meta Knight, and King Dedede on a quest to retrieve missing spaceship parts. It’s likely to appear in the February 2023 Nintendo Direct because it’s coming this month.
• Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon — A prequel to Bayonetta 3, which stars Bayonetta incarnation, Cereza. Bayonetta Origins is scheduled to launch next month on March 17, 2023. Gaming outlets recently previewed the game earlier this month, so it wouldn’t be surprising for the public to get even more information in an upcoming direct. In case you’re wondering, our reviewer had a positive response to what she previewed so far in the demo.
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — It’s the Game Awards’ Most Anticipated Game of 2023 for a reason. Tears of the Kingdom has a much later release date on May 12, 2023, so it's further away than the other possibilities on this list. Fans already received plenty of information from past trailers and teasers. Its popularity still could have convinced developers to save it a spot in the upcoming Direct, though.
• Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp — A two-in-one remake of the first two Advance Wars games, an IP that’s been dormant for years. It’s been the target of many delays, including one announced in December 2021 and an “indefinite” one announced in March 2022. Nintendo hasn’t updated fans with a new release date since. Hopefully this February Direct is the time to do that.