Nintendo’s Next Big Games Are…

Nintendo held their latest direct last week, and it was a big one. Lots of news and release dates announced. Find out the details below. Also, a new report shows how much players will spend on gaming in 2025. If you are a numbers nerd, this is for you. All this and more. Let’s go!

A Prime Direct for Nintendo

Nintendo held their latest Direct this week, sharing their plans for the rest of 2025 and 2026.  

The video provided a release date and more details for Metroid Prime 4 (Dec. 4), the name and teaser trailer for the next Mario movie (called The Super Mario Galaxy Movie) and a number of games coming to the Switch 2 (Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII remake and Hades 2). You can check out everything announced, but here are some of the highlights:

Nintendo is bringing back the Virtual Boy

Nintendo's mid-90’s attempt at a VR system returns, with the original games available on Nintendo Switch Online. They are also making a new plastic and cardboard headset that are available for $100 and $25 respectively. These will be available in February of 2026.

Pokémon Pokopia

A new Pokémon spinoff that looks a lot like Minecraft, Pokémon Pokopia is scheduled to release in 2026.

A new Fire Emblem game

Nintendo announced Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, the 18th game in the Fire Emblem series. The latest in the extensive series is scheduled to release in 2026. 

Which of the announcements are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments or on Bluesky.

Let’s geek out to gaming stats

Analytics firm Newzoo released their annual global gaming market report for 2025. Overall, it is projected that players will spend $188 billion on gaming this year. Here are some interesting statistics from the report:

• By the end of 2025, 3.58 billion people are expected to be players, an increase of 4.4% from 2024.
• 936 million people will play games on PC, 645 million on console, and 3 billion on mobile devices. 
• 2025 revenue will hit over $188 billion, a 3.4% increase from 2024. 
• PC revenue accounts for $39.9 billion revenue, console $45.9 billion and mobile $103 billion in revenue. 
• More than half of gaming revenue will come from two countries: the United States and China.
• 56% of players will not spend any money on games.
• When games launch simultaneously on console and PC, 61% chose PC in the first three months compared to 31% on console. However, when release dates are staggered with a console-first launch, 87% played on console. 

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

😟 The alleged murderer of Charlie Kirk had engraved bullets that were found at the scene of the crime with various online memes including some that referenced Helldivers 2. 

🧟 Variety has an interview with Neil Druckmann on leaving the production of The Last of Us show and his new game Intergalactic.

📉 A former Bethesda executive says subscription services like Xbox Game Pass are undercutting developers. 

💰 Fortnite will soon allow players to purchase the exact amount of virtual currency V-bucks they need for skins instead of making them buy a larger amount. 

🚗 Xbox cloud gaming is coming to select cars, allowing passengers to play games during their ride. 

🎭 Actor Keanu Reeves says he would “love to play Johnny Silverhand again” in Cyberpunk 2. 

📱 Sony launched a PlayStation family app that provides parental control and content filters. 

👍🏿 Hollow Knight: Silksong players are trying to help those who find the game too difficult by pointing out mods that make the game easier. 

🧟‍♀️ Acclaim returned from the dead, announcing they would publish nine new games. 

📊 Borderlands 4 set a series record for concurrent players on Steam with over 207,000. 

🥽 Former Meta employees allege the company squashed research into virtual reality child abuse.

🎮 Game Developer looked at why it takes so long to make new video games, and if AI will help the process. 

🛞 All the clickwheel games created for the original iPod have been preserved for posterity. 

🎰 One esports team took a stand against online gambling by partnering with a gambling harm prevention firm.

🔫 MachineGames hopes to make another game in the Wolfenstein series.

New Releases this week: 

Check out our article on 12 New Games to Play in September.

9/15: Lego Voyagers (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
9/18: Arctic Awakening (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
9/19: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PlayStation, Switch and PC)

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