Nintendo of America announced via Twitter that a Nintendo Direct mini Partner Showcase will be dropping on their official YouTube channel, tomorrow June 28th, 2022, at 6AM PT/9AM ET. They stated that the showcase will feature "roughly 25 minutes of info on upcoming third-party Nintendo Switch games." They also specified that the presentation will be watched on-demand, meaning that, unlike traditional Nintendo Directs, this will not be a livestream, and instead the whole thing will be released instantly in video form.
This announcement comes off the tail-end of a sheer exhausting amount of Direct speculation. First, many started spouting around the rumor that a Direct was happening late-June 2022. That was then put in doubt after the announcement of a Xenoblade-focused Direct on the 22nd. Some still held strong that another mainline Direct was happening, but then journalist Tom Henderson stated on Twitter that what was coming was a mini Direct focusing on third-party games; looks like the man was right on the money as usual. It's clear that this type of showcase will not include such announcements, and given prior history, a mainline Direct likely won't be coming for a while. After the rampant speculation about an upcoming Direct, fans are predictably disappointed:
Besides Xenoblade and Pokémon (which usually get their own presentations), the only upcoming first-party games for Nintendo are Splatoon 3 and the sequel to Breath of the Wild. With few exceptions, Nintendo has been quite consistent with its mainline Direct schedule over the past several years. Following such trends, the next one could possibly come in September 2022, which would give them more time to advance development on their future games, and get them ready to present. But of course, nothing is certain.
When it comes to what to expect from this Direct, it's worth repeating that no, Breath of the Wild 2 nor the next Mario game nor anything like that, will show up here. Nintendo fans tend to expect crazy surprises, but they've been clear; it's only third-party games. That being said, it doesn't mean that there aren't exciting possibilities. One of the biggest names people are throwing out is Bayonetta 3. It is being developed after all by PlatinumGames, which is a privately-owned studio. However, its previous appearance was in a mainline Nintendo Direct back in September of 2021, so it could be they consider this franchise one of their bigger hitters and would want to save it for those.
A likely star for this presentation though is the upcoming Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, being developed by Ubisoft. This is a sequel to the surprisingly beloved turn-based tactical-strategy game Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, which came out in 2017. This was also corroborated in the same tweet by Tom Henderson, where he started the game would be getting a gameplay reveal. The game also still has a nebulous 2022 release date, so this could be where it gets its specific date, or unfortunately, where it gets delayed. Others are hoping the acclaimed Persona games get ported over to the Switch. Recently, Xbox revealed that Persona 3, 4, and 5 will be coming to their platform, as well as PC, and will no longer be exclusive to PlayStation. Nintendo fans are praying that they get included in this deal, as Persona games are usually not too graphically intensive. Though there has been some unsubstantiated rumors, this is mostly just fans speculating.
The answers to these questions will come soon; tune in tomorrow June 28th, 2022, at 6AM PT/9AM ET.