It’s only Monday morning, yet we’ve received even more evidence suggesting a Nintendo Direct is scheduled to appear this week.
Nintendo Direct Evidence Seems Irrefutable
According to an online service status page on Nintendo’s official website, the company will be holding network maintenance “From Wednesday, July 30, 2025, 11:00 PM – Thursday, July 31, 2025, 12:30 AM Pacific Time.”
This information is exciting, considering that Nintendo tends to hold Directs a bit later in the week, and the maintenance is on Wednesday, leading into Thursday for North Americans.
How Does Maintenance Apply to a Nintendo Direct?
Typically, Nintendo announces new games on its emulation services during a Direct, and will surely announce new titles or release dates for existing ones as well. Maintenance may be required for these processes.
However, the more enticing answer may be related to an online playtest being held by the company around this time.
Nintendo often conducts secret playtests for its online games at set intervals, and according to the official Nintendo playtest website, the current period will run from Monday, July 28, to Sunday, August 10. That said, the actual sessions for said playtest take place within those time frames. The game isn’t just up for that entire time.
What Should We Expect From a New Nintendo Direct?
This isn’t to mention that Wood from the Nontendo Podcast recently mentioned that he also heard tell of a Nintendo Direct this week, and listed the following games as ones that may be announced:
- Metaphor ReFantazio
- Pokémon Colosseum for Nintendo Switch Online GameCube emulator
- Death Stranding: Director’s Cut
- The Witcher 3: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
In addition to those games, Wood claims we’ll receive a Metroid Prime 4: Beyond release date and a teaser for the new Animal Crossing.
The Switch 2 has been a massive success in both the United States and Japan, breaking various records since its launch in June.
Although it has been out for only two months, some are already anticipating what a new Switch 2 model may look like. We’ve seen leaks of a potential Switch 2 OLED model, for example, though we shouldn’t expect such a release for some time. After all, it would be disastrous for Nintendo to release a new version of the Switch 2 so soon after the initial model was released.
