Don’t Expect A Nintendo Direct In June
We don’t have to tell you that 2020 has been a very weird year so far and it looks like that trend is going to continue for the foreseeable future. According to VentureBeat, Nintendo is telling its partner developers that there will not be a June Nintendo Direct like normal. Usually Nintendo hosts a presentation the first day of E3, which has taken place in June for many years now. With E3 2020 being cancelled, and the fact that Japan and many other areas of the world are in lockdown, it appears Nintendo will not have a showcase in June.
Both GameSpot and IGN have committed to hosting various video game announcements and trailers from many of the third parties that would have normally shown off their games during E3. I know our hope was that Nintendo would continue like normal and also air its usual June Direct and even have Treehouse Live return to showcase upcoming games as they have in the past. It now appears that this is not happening – at least not in the usual timeframe. Perhaps Nintendo will have some sort of online showcase in July or maybe they’ll take a smaller approach and continue to make announcements via small videos on Twitter? Whatever the case, we can’t help but be disappointed that one of our favorite times of the year – the week-long celebration of the video game industry – is a thing of the past – at least for this year.
In the meantime, Nintendo fans can continue to do their daily grind in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Then, on May 29 Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition arrives. What comes after is anybody’s guess.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
