The traditional summer Nintendo Direct is just around the corner, but it won’t be one of the usual E3-style blowouts. Instead, the upcoming livestream will be devoted entirely to Donkey Kong Bananza, the next big release on the Switch 2's launch year calendar.
The Donkey Kong Bananaza Direct will start streaming at 9:00 a.m. ET on June 18 and run approximately 15 minutes. What will Nintendo show off that couldn’t have just as easily been a random morning trailer drop? We’ll see. Bananza is Donkey Kong’s first 3D sandbox adventure in decades and features a new deformation mechanic where he can destroy the levels around him Wreck-It Ralph-style. Buzz around recent hands-on events was positive, but the jury’s out on whether it’ll be on the level of a Super Mario Odyssey.
A one-game Direct will be disappointing to some fans wanting a big preview of what’s coming for the new hardware, but is in line with Nintendo’s confusing marketing plans as it transitions console generations. A free Switch 2 upgrade for Splatoon 3 and new content update were unceremoniously announced via the Nintendo Today news app, alongside a tease for a new standalone spin-off in the paint shooter series. Given this, and so many other interesting titles due for the console this year, it definitely feels like Nintendo has enough in the pipeline to give fans the big summer Direct we’ve seen in years past if it wanted to.
For now, the Switch 2 is definitely missing that one big binge-worthy single-player adventure to consume players’ lives in-between Mario Kart World matches, but there are still plenty of major third-party ports coming up later in the year. While none of them have release dates yet, Final Fantasy Remake, Elden Ring, and Borderlands 4 are all coming to Switch 2 before the end of 2025. Time will tell if Nintendo has another major secret Switch 2 exclusive hiding in the wings for this fall.
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