Nintendo has reportedly decided to break with years of tradition and scrap its planned Nintendo Direct video for June – when it would normally unveil its games for the next year – in the wake of the cancellation of E3 2020.
Nintendo hasn’t held a live conference at E3 since 2013, but has instead released a Nintendo Direct video to YouTube the same week as the influential tradeshow to reveal new games, hardware, and other plans.
With E3 no longer on the cards this year thanks to COVID-19 most expected that Nintendo would still hold an online reveal as usual, but VentureBeat reports that the E3 Direct won’t land in June, and perhaps not until the very end of summer.
The Kyoto company has reportedly told partner developers not to expect a reveal in June, thanks to delays driven by the shift to a working from home model. Working from home presents specific challenges for assembling high quality video presentations, and also clashes uncomfortably with traditional Japanese business culture, which is supposedly the cause of the delays.
Nintendo had been expected to lean into Mario’s 35th anniversary with the re-release of several classic 3D Mario titles on the Switch, and perhaps even a new game in the series. Fans also hoped for more news on Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 or Metroid Prime 4, and various third-party games would also have been given the spotlight treatment.
While Nintendo is delaying its launches, both Sony and Microsoft are expected to make major announcements ahead of the usual E3 dates, with the pair rumoured to reveal more details about the PS5 and Xbox Series X – and perhaps a cheaper Xbox Series S – some time in May.
Author: Dominic Preston, Deputy Editor
Tech Advisor's Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he's a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.