We’re now deep into January and if you’re a Nintendo fan on the internet, you’ve probably seen dozens of rumors regarding the next Nintendo Direct. Scrolling through your preferred gaming feed, you’ll find ‘insiders’ — some legitimate, hardly any — leaking hot information from ‘sources’ — some real, most made up — about when Nintendo plans to serve up its usual platter of upcoming goodies. De-lish!
With all the Switch 2 rumors also swirling around at the moment, it’s getting tiring to see the vague guesses of Direct’s schedule that anyone with an iota of common sense could come up with. What is that? INSIDER CLAIMS NINTENDO DIRECT IS JUST A FEW WEEKS YOU SAY? No sh***, Shulk!
How do they do it, those mystical prognosticators? It’s not like they have over a decade’s worth of data to look back on in the month Nintendo dropped the first full-fledged Direct presentation to—wait for it. No, they do.
Let’s take a look at the dates of the first true Nintendo Direct each year since the beginning of 2011, shall we?…
First Dates – First Nintendo Direct every year so far
We’ve included the duration of the broadcasts below and, in certain cases, noted when they were preceded or quickly followed by smaller Directs or other Nintendo multi-game presentations.
Click on the links if you want to see a summary of the Direct or the presentation itself.
| Year | The first Nintendo direct match | Approximate length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| in 2023 | February 8 | 44 min | |
| in 2022 | February 9 | 40 min | |
| in 2021 | February 17 | 54 min | |
| in 2020 | February 20 (Animal Crossing only) | 27 minutes | It will be followed by Indie World on March 17th and Nintendo Direct Mini on March 26th |
| in 2019 | February 13 | 36 minutes | Preceded by Indie Highlights on January 23rd |
| 2018 | March 8 | 34 min | It was preceded by the Nintendo Direct Mini on January 11 |
| in 2017 | April 12 | 35 min | It was preceded by the Fire Emblem Direct on January 18th and the Nindies Showcase on February 28th |
| 2016 | March 3 | 41 min | |
| 2015 | January 14 | 46 minutes | |
| in 2014 | February 13 | 41 min | |
| in 2013 | January 23 (Wii U only) | 35 min | Fmade possible by the Nintendo 3DS Direct on February 14th |
| 2012 | February 22 | 48 minutes | |
| 2011 | ON – The first Nintendo Direct was broadcast on October 21, 2011 | 7 min |
Zooming out the first year of the series (which debuted in October), you can see that of the 12 listed Nintendo Directs…
- seven (58.33%) were broadcast in February
- two (16.66%) were broadcast in January
- two (16.66%) were broadcast in March
- and one (8.33%) was broadcast in April
In five years, the first major Nintendo Direct of the year aired in February. Now, the one focusing on Animal Crossing from 2020 muddies the data set a bit, but it was a strange year for a variety of reasons.
Regardless, you can see from the table above that if you’re a gambler, the smart money would be on Nintendo Direct in February 2024. Science!
Will the Nintendo Direct form be valid for 2024?
Rumors of a new Nintendo hardware announcement coming sometime this year mean it’s entirely possible that the tea table will be turned and Nintendo will take a less conventional approach to its Direct planning this year.
However, it is a large company inextricably linked not only to the calendar, but also to partners in manufacturing, publishing, advertising and retail, not to mention dates dictated by the financial calendar, with shareholders eager to be fiscally dazzled by news of its upcoming products.
We’re sure Nintendo would love to shake up the Direct formula and inject some surprise and delight into its schedule, but the pattern has held for the past five years for a reason – it works.
So when is the first Nintendo Direct this year?
Hmm, good. For those of you who skipped all the way through all the boring ones words, to summarize. Using only our divine talents as Nintendo Insiders — an ancient art known to the natives of Kyoto as wii’key-pehdya — we’re confident that the first full Nintendo Direct in 2024 will arrive *drum*…
- Probably in February, boss
- although possibly late January or early March
Remember our words! Now, where do we gather our power?
Do you think we are far from the goal? Impossible! Were we not vague enough to be right, whatever happened!? Vote in the poll below and tell us what you think, you beautiful insiders, you.
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