Nintendo has announced a Donkey Kong Bananza Direct presentation for Wednesday 18th June 2025. Rumours had been swirling of a June Nintendo Direct and it looks like this is it. While a deep-dive into Donkey Kong is great, many more questions remain about other release dates and game announcements. Today I’m going to dive into the announcement from Nintendo, plus look ahead at what else needs to be addressed. 

Nintendo normally has a Direct in June. Looking back in recent years 2020 was the year that missed a Nintendo Direct in June, but for very good reason. Now Nintendo has announced this Donkey Kong Bananza Direct via the Nintendo Today app. Nintendo said

“Tune in Wednesday June 18 for a livestreamed Donkey Kong Banaza Direct presentation” 

No further information has been shared, for example what time we should tune in. This is going to be the first major Nintendo Direct since the launch of the Switch 2, which is going well by all accounts setting sales records globally. Donkey Kong Banaza is due for release on 17th July 2025 and DK will have a mysterious purple rock companion. DK rescues the rock early in the game, which is ironic because most of the trailers we’ve seen so far is DK smashing up the environment. 

Nintendo hasn’t yet revealed the team making Donkey Kong Bananza with IGN posing the question to Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinen early this year. He said in response “it’s a very good question. You’ll have to stay tuned. We always like to start by showcasing the game and getting people focused on the gameplay, but we’ll have some information to share about the developer in due time.”

We’ve seen a good amount of Donkey Kong since the reveal on 2nd April, with Nintendo showcasing the gameplay during their Nintendo Treehouse events in the days that followed the Switch 2 reveal. 

One question remains, if Nintendo is going to deepdive on Donkey Kong, are they going to have a traditional Nintendo Direct, where they showcase other games and announcements this summer, or are we going to have to wait until September? We had hoped Nintendo would hold a traditional June Direct either this week or next week, but this deep-dive into Donkey Kong may press the pause button on those hopes. 

Here’s what I would like to see in a traditional Nintendo Direct. 

There are a couple of categories Nintendo could go into.

* Reminders of games that have release dates
* Confirming release dates for announced games
* Announcing new games

Reminders

We have a couple of Switch 2 Editions with DLC including Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV (also in July) and Kirby and the Forgotten Land (coming in August). You would imagine Nintendo wants to keep momentum on the Switch 2 launch by reminding fans that these games are coming. 

Release dates

Then we have confirmation of release dates for announced games. We have some big first party games with Metroid Prime 4 Beyond, Kirby Air Riders, Drag X Drive and Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment. Out of all of these games I am most excited for Metroid Prime 4 Beyond. That looked fantastic, plus we have mouse controls and it’s running perfectly smooth on the new Switch 2 hardware. Metroid Prime 4 Beyond could be the big Nintendo holiday game we’ve been looking for.

Kirby Air Riders is interesting because it has Sakurai’s name attached to it, but given I’ve just played multiple hours of Mario Kart World, I’m not 100% sure of the logic releasing two racing games so close to each other. Drag X Drive probably isn’t for me, but it’s always good to see Nintendo doing interesting things with their controls, from the trailers shown already it just didn’t grab me. Hyrule Warriors is another one. I am a huge Zelda fan, but not a Hyrule Warriors fan. I’m happy this game exists, and it’ll have interesting implications for the story, but I’m not sold on the game just yet.

Then we’ve got some third party games we need announcements for. Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is going to be a big one. I could see Elden Ring getting another huge wave of fans discovering the game. Nightreign was a huge release recently and I think some people are under estimating the pull of Elden Ring, its going to be huge on Nintendo Switch 2. Hades 2 is another game which is going to be big. This has been in early access for about a year now, and I’ve played a good amount of it. It’s very good and will most liklely be as big as Hades was on Nintendo Switch. I’ve heard rumours this week that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be announced for the Switch 2, Arthur Morgan’s voice actor has been teasing a big announcement for Red Read 2, so it’ll be interesting to see if that game comes to Switch 2. Again, it’s another huge game, but it’s an older game – that one originally released in 2018. It certainly fits the model Nintendo has been playing for the Switch 2 launch, releasing the greatest hits of the last 10 years on the console like Cyberpunk 2077, Hitman, Yakuza and more.

As for third party announcements it’d be great to get confirmation of Mina The Hollower coming to Nintendo Switch 2, this is a pixel art Zelda-like similar to Link’s Awakening on the Gameboy. Final Fantasy Tactics is another one that would be perfect on Switch 2 in handheld mode. Dragon Quest 1 + 2 HD Remaster look gorgeous, that’s due for October. Plus we always have Hollow Knight Silksong, but I’m not going to say too much about that… that one is going to release when it’s ready.

New announcements

Then we get into interesting territory, new announcements for games we don’t know about. I think we could see some Gamecube games announced for Nintendo Classics. Mario Strikers was being played at the Nintendo Switch 2 events, so that one is immiment. They have marketing material featuring Super Mario Sunshine and Fire Emblem, so they are certainly possible. Check out my recent video on most wanted gamecube games for my full predictions on what gamecube games should come next.

I would love to see a teaser for the next 3D Mario game. We don’t have confirmation of which development team at Nintendo worked on Donkey Kong Bananza. It looks like the 3D Mario Team could have worked on the game, but maybe Nintendo has one last trick up their sleeve for this year with a 3D Mario game for Holiday 2025. I think the odds are slim, but I would love to see it. I think it’s too early for a teaser for the new Zelda game. That’s probably not going to arrive until 2028 or 2029. We could see a teaser for a remake if they decide to go that direction, potentially Ocarina of Time or Link Between Worlds, both would be excellent additions to the console, but I don’t think it’s likely at this point in time.

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, it’s going to be fun to dive deeper into Donkey Kong Bananza. 

Let me know what you think in the comments.