Stay tuned for a 40-minute showcase of new games, both known and unknown.
The first Nintendo Direct of 2022 airs Wednesday at 5 p.m. EST/2 p.m. PST, offering a 40-minute update on new Switch games due to launch in the first half of the year. Polygon will highlight all of the important developments as they come in, and you can follow the stream live via YouTube right here.
As far as what will make an appearance, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, first announced at the September 2021 Nintendo Direct, launches March 25. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, the remaster of the 2001 and 2003 Game Boy Advance titles, was also delayed to sometime this spring. Both of those titles would seem to be sure things this afternoon.
Elsewhere, we’re still waiting for launch dates on Bayonetta 3 and Splatoon 3, although if they’re not coming by the end of June, Nintendo may hold onto that news for later. Fans of Hollow Knight: Silk’s song has been left hanging for what seems like forever; a rumor at the beginning of January suggested it will launch sometime this year.
Metroid fans are also waiting on word of Metroid Prime 4, originally announced at E3 2017, but radio silent since Nintendo rebooted the project and handed development back to Retro Studios more than three years ago.
There have also been several rumors related to a Metroid Prime remaster (or a remaster trilogy of the first three games); scuttlebutt at the end of 2021 implied development had wrapped and a re-release was coming in 2022 — the 20th anniversary of Metroid Prime.
And, of course, we still do not have a name for the sequel to 2017’sThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But since we don’t have a launch date for it, either, it seems like Nintendo would save that announcement for a bigger event, or a time when it’s ready to give it a launch window.
Nintendo Directs are generally difficult to predict, and usually throw out two or three surprises. The only way to know for sure is to tune in and see for yourself.