Nintendo Direct February 2022: How to watch and what to expect

Update: Follow our live blog of the Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase.

It’s a new year, and that means it’s time for a new Nintendo Direct. We haven’t had one of Nintendo’s signature Direct livestreams since October, which means that gamers have had almost four months to ponder what the Big N might announce next. They’ll soon find out, provided they can spare 40 minutes of their time tomorrow (Feb. 9).

How to watch the Nintendo Direct

Information comes from the official Nintendo Twitter account, which tweeted the following:

“Tune in 2/9 at 2 p.m. PT for a #NintendoDirect livestream featuring roughly 40 minutes of information mainly focused on #NintendoSwitch games launching in the first half of 2022.”

And there you have it. If you want to watch the Nintendo Direct livestream as it happens, it will be on Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET/10 p.m. GMT. The livestream will be available on Nintendo’s official YouTube channel, and we’ve embedded a link below:

If you want to, you can use YouTube to set a reminder for the livestream. Otherwise, just tune in when it’s live, or watch the recording after the fact. The link should stay the same, either way.

What to expect from the Nintendo Direct

Nintendo very much does its own thing when it comes to Nintendo Direct livestreams. As such, the predictions players make about which games we’ll see are often wrong. Nintendo does something completely unexpected as often as not. Sometimes, you get 40 minutes of minor titles with niche audiences; sometimes you get one blockbuster announcement after another.

We don’t have any special insight into Nintendo’s plan, but we can at least say which games we’re supposed to see this year. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has been in the works for a while, and the first Breath of the Wild came out in March of 2017. It’s not so ridiculous to think that the next Zelda game might be almost ready.

Nintendo also shared a few details about Splatoon 3 last time, although I’m not sure if that’s as close to completion. Splatoon 2 came out in July of 2017, so by that logic, the sequel is probably still another few months out.

One oddball prediction would be that we might see a new Mario game. Nintendo hasn’t discussed a proper sequel to Super Mario Odyssey yet, and now is as good a time as any to share some information about that. Of course, if it’s coming out in the “first half of 2022,” that would be a very short time between announcement and launch.

In short, the only way to know what Nintendo has planned is to tune in tomorrow. Tom’s Guide will have more information once the livestream begins. Whatever else happens, though, we wouldn’t hold out much hope for the Metroid Prime Trilogy on Switch. We’ve been burned on that prediction before.