Fifth Nintendo Direct of 2026 announced and it still isn’t the one you want

Mario picking up a star in Super Mario Galaxy
Don’t expect the stars (Nintendo)

Nintendo has announced a new Direct showcase for this week, but don’t expect a 3D Mario or an update on Splatoon Raiders.

There have technically been four Nintendo Direct-esque presentations so far in 2026, between the Super Mario Galaxy Movie Direct, a special showcase dedicated to Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream, a Partner Showcase for third party titles, and last week’s Pokémon Presents.

Unless you really wanted Fallout 4 on Switch 2, the only significant announcement across all of them was Pokémon Winds and Waves last week. Pokopia, Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and Yoshi And The Mysterious Book are all set to launch over the coming months, but the big mystery is what’s planned for later this year.

Unfortunately, Nintendo is in no hurry to answer that question. As everyone anticipates the next major Direct, that is about Nintendo’s own first party games, the company has announced the fifth presentation of 2026 will actually be an Indie World Showcase.

The showcase will take place on Tuesday, March 3 at 2pm GMT (6am PT in the US) and promises ‘roughly 15 minutes’ of updates on indie games coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and the original Switch. You’ll be able to stream it on YouTube below.

As for what could appear, we’re hoping Mina The Hollower from the creators of Shovel Knight will finally get a release date, after being delayed late last year. We could also see a release date for Witchbrook, the Stardew Valley-meets-Hogwarts life sim slated for 2026.

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A number of indie hits from 2025 are also yet to appear on Switch, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (yes, it’s technically indie) and Blue Prince. With the brief 15 minute runtime though, we probably wouldn’t get your hopes up too much.

If you want to clutch at straws, there have been two Nintendo presentations every month so far in 2026. If they follow the same pattern, and this is the first one of March, you’d assume the next one would have to be (surely?) the next proper Nintendo Direct. Knowing our luck though, it’ll be a feature-length post-mortem of Kirby Air Riders.

As for what first party titles are coming to the Switch 2 this year, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is the only game we know about beyond Yoshi And The Mysterious Book. Splatoon Raiders has also been announced, but it’s unclear if that will come out this year.

Mina The Hollower screenshot
Is it Mina’s time? (Yacht Club Games)

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