Last week was jam packed for video game announcements with Sony’s State of Play, Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest and the Xbox Game Showcase all taking place – but there was one major name missing from the list. Although plenty of the game announcements from last week are also making their way to Nintendo Switch 2, the Japanese console maker didn’t host their own dedicated Direct event, but new evidence suggests it might be hosting one this week instead.
The Maintenance Clue
The latest evidence comes from the official Nintendo Customer Service account on X, which warned gamers this morning that the Nintendo Store is scheduled to undergo maintenance… This was originally meant to take place on Tuesday, but appears to have been shifted back at the last minute.
This is significant for a couple of reasons. For one, Nintendo is known for scheduling store maintenance around the same time as Nintendo Directs as this is usually when it updates the store with information of all the new announcements. That’s exactly what happened last July… Nintendo has a habit of hosting Direct presentations on either Tuesdays or Thursdays.
Nintendo Store maintenance has historically often aligned with direct dates and today Nintendo has announced a last-minute delay to Nintendo Store maintenance from 9th June to 11th June. This has led many to believe that the Kyoto-based company plans to hold the rumoured June Nintendo Direct on Thursday, 11th June.
Ahead of the upcoming Nintendo Direct this next week, this is the full list of rumored upcoming first party Nintendo games for 2026-2027:
— Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) June 7, 2026
2026:
– Star Fox
– Rhythm Heaven Groove
– Splatoon Raiders
– Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
– Xenoblade 2 – Switch 2 Edition
– New Switch… pic.twitter.com/4IhwBqtIU8
Insiders Double Down
Nash Weedle doubles down on June 9 Nintendo Direct: ‘Like I said last Tuesday, the Direct is tomorrow’.
Sadly, he was the first one to call on a Direct tomorrow, before Nate and before Grubb. If it’s announced today, we’ll have to trust Nash a bit more from now on.
A Nintendo Direct for this week has been mentioned by NateTheHate and Jeff Grubb… According to Grubb, Nintendo currently has enough announced and rumored projects, along with third-party partnerships, to support a major presentation.
The Delay Theory: Earthquakes and The World Cup
Just noticed they pushed back the scheduled maintenance to June 11th. Does this mean they moved the Direct to Thursday at the last minute?
Probably. They always delay directs due to either political or natural catastrophes. The phillipines tsunami and earthquake made the japanese Governement publish a tsunami warning today… I am certain that the Tsunami warning had something to do with the delay.
The problem is that a delay will make it happen on Thursday which is when the World Cups opening ceremony is. Thus most eyes will be on that event. Which will no doubt cost PR.
What to Expect: Zelda and Mario?
The second half of 2026 is looking a little thin on the ground for first-party Nintendo releases with only Star Fox and Splatoon Raiders currently in the calendar. Rumours suggest that Nintendo is working on a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which would be ideal to celebrate the series’ 40th anniversary if it can launch before the end of 2026.
Given last week officially marked one year since the Switch 2 landed in the hands of gamers, now feels like the right time for the console maker to announce what’s next for the platform. Personally, I’m holding out for a brand new 3D Mario game – it’s been a long nine years since Super Mario Odyssey – but we’ll most certainly settle for a remake of one of the best Zelda games of all time.
We’ll report back if Nintendo officially announces a Direct stream for later this week.
Report: This article was constructed by directly quoting authors Joshua Boyles (Express.co.uk), Sickr (My Nintendo News), Salal Awan (Twisted Voxel), alongside community users from Reddit’s r/GamingLeaksAndRumours and r/NintendoSwitch2.
Leo FS is a digital marketing veteran and senior journalist at Virlan.co, where he covers the intersection of digital marketing, gaming, and breaking US trending news. With nearly two decades of hands-on experience in SEO and digital strategy, Max has consulted for and scaled hundreds of companies. His deep industry roots allow him to deliver sharp, fact-checked insights and analysis on the trends shaping today’s digital landscape.
