Nintendo Direct February 2026: Everything we expect to see

The Nintendo Direct is happening this week, so it’s time to round up all our speculation on what the gaming giant will reveal.

The livestream will air on Nintendo’s YouTube channel at 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET on Thursday, February 5. It’s listed as a Nintendo Direct partner showcase for third-party games, which means the likelihood of seeing first-party Nintendo games is pretty low to none.

That doesn’t mean we can’t expect some excitement, though. The show lasts 30 minutes and features games for Switch And Switch 2.

Here’s what we expect and would like to see from the showcase.

More fantastic ports

This would be a great Switch 2 game.
Credit: Square Enix/Steam

Given that this Direct will be largely focused on third-party games, it’s reasonable to expect that a good portion will be devoted to ports of existing games. From Software (we’ll come back to this later) has already announced a Switch 2 port of Ancient Ring with a release in 2026, so I wouldn’t be shocked if we got a specific launch date during this Direct.

There may be at least one more critically acclaimed RPG getting Switch 2 ports. Nintendo YouTuber NateTheHate predicted that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will appear during the Direct with a release date in 2026. Publisher Square Enix has just released the Switch 2 version of the prequel to this game, Final Fantasy VII Remakein January, and it’s apparently selling pretty well.

Since Square has already confirmed Renaissance would come to Switch 2 at some point, it would make sense for the next installment in the series to appear now.

The great success of 2024 Metaphor: ReFantazio would also be a reasonable candidate for a Switch 2 version.

A second look at The Twilight Bloods?

You should probably get this checked.
Credit: Software/Nintendo

Towards the end of the first big Switch 2 showcase last year, Nintendo announced Bloods of Twilighta brand new game exclusive to Switch 2 from the creators of Ancient RingFrom the software.

Since then, we have not seen or heard anything about Bloods of Twilightdespite its release date being announced for 2026. Given that it’s not technically a first-party Nintendo game, it could, and arguably should, take pride of place in this Direct.

007: First Light

Finally, Generation Z James Bond.
Credit: IO Interactive/Steam

I took a quick look 007: First Lightan upcoming James Bond game from the creators of Hitman. This looks to be an interesting mix of canned action sequences and creative stealth levels. And this is confirmed for a Switch 2 version when it launches on May 27.

It would be a big deal for Nintendo if First light appeared in any capacity during this Direct, but there’s also an argument that we’ve already seen everything we need to see of this game before release.

Resident Evil: Requiem and other Capcom games

“Monster Hunter Stories” rules.
Credit: Capcom/Steam

Speaking of the upcoming cross-platform releases with the Switch 2 versions, Resident Evil: Requiem launch at the end of February. Capcom probably doesn’t need to do much more marketing for this game, which looked fantastic when I played it a few weeks ago, but it couldn’t hurt to at least remind people that it exists and is coming to Switch 2.

The same goes for Pragmatsan exciting sci-fi shooter with a unique hacking mechanic. It launches on Switch 2 (and everything else) in April.

I wouldn’t mind seeing more either Monster Hunter Stories 3a new entry in what is one of the best video game spin-off series working today.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 shakes up the action game series. It features some really fun turn-based combat and a distinct take on the Pokémon-style monster collecting mechanics. This is one of my most anticipated games of 2026, and I’d like to see more of it during this Direct.

At least one thing we won’t see coming

As with every Nintendo Direct, leave room for the unexpected. There will probably be a “one more thing…” announcement at the end that could be anything listed here, or something that absolutely no one predicted.

No one in this business is better than Nintendo at preventing leaks and hiding secrets, which is what makes the Nintendo Direct so compelling. We will find out together on Thursday morning.