Nintendo Announces Two Directs for September 8–9 — Zelda 40th Anniversary Gets Its Own Showcase

Nintendo is holding two Direct presentations on consecutive days next week: a roughly 30-minute Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct on September 8, followed by a roughly 45-minute Nintendo Direct focused on upcoming Switch 2 games on September 9. Both begin at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET (14:00 UTC). Nintendo has not revealed the full lineup for either presentation.

The Exact Schedule

Both broadcasts stream on Nintendo’s official YouTube channels and Nintendo.com in the Americas, Europe and Japan.

What the Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct Is Officially About

Nintendo’s own announcement keeps this one deliberately broad: the September 8 presentation will share, in the company’s words, a variety of information related to The Legend of Zelda to celebrate the series’ 40th anniversary. That’s the entire official scope. Nintendo hasn’t narrowed it to games specifically, to a single title, or to Switch 2 exclusively, and there’s no reason to assume it’s limited to any of those until Nintendo says so directly. A 40th-anniversary showcase for one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises reasonably has room for game news, merchandise, past-title rereleases or anything else Nintendo files under “series-related,” so the honest framing is that the topic is Zelda’s 40th anniversary in general, not any specific announcement.

What Nintendo Has Confirmed for September 9

The follow-up Direct on September 9 has a narrower, current description: Nintendo’s own wording says it’s focused on Nintendo Switch 2 games coming this winter. That’s a real scope constraint, not general Nintendo news — the September 9 show is not being billed as a wider showcase the way the Zelda Direct is, and Nintendo has specifically named the Switch 2 winter lineup as the subject.

It’s still worth being precise about what “focused on” does and doesn’t rule out. Official focus wording describes emphasis, not necessarily an exhaustive exclusion list — Nintendo hasn’t stated that Switch 1 software is entirely absent, only that the Direct’s main subject is Switch 2’s winter release window.

Nintendo Treehouse: Live Follows the Main Direct

Nintendo’s official U.S. Direct page confirms that Nintendo Treehouse: Live | September 2026 will air immediately after the September 9 Direct, showing gameplay of select titles that were featured during that broadcast. Nintendo hasn’t published a runtime, a full game lineup or any guest details for the Treehouse stream — only that it follows the Direct and covers games from it.

Ocarina of Time Is Real — Its Direct Appearance Isn’t Confirmed

Nintendo has already officially announced The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo Switch 2, describing the Nintendo 64 original as being reborn for the platform, with a 2026 release. That’s a standing, confirmed announcement independent of these two Directs.

What Nintendo has not done is confirm that Ocarina of Time will specifically appear during the September 8 Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct. Given the anniversary framing and the game’s own 2026 release window, it’s an obvious candidate to watch for — but that’s a reasonable inference from timing, not a Nintendo confirmation. There’s no official word on gameplay, a release date reveal, a deeper look at the remake, or any developer segment tied to the September 8 broadcast specifically.

What Remains Speculation

Fan and press speculation ahead of these Directs has floated things like a live-action Zelda film update, older Zelda rereleases, new merchandise or amiibo, and other anniversary-themed extras. None of that is confirmed by Nintendo for either broadcast, and none of it is treated as expected content here. If Nintendo names specific announcements before or during the shows, that’s a separate story from the schedule itself.

Why Splitting Zelda Into Its Own Direct Matters

Nintendo giving Zelda’s 40th anniversary a dedicated ~30-minute broadcast, rather than folding it into a segment of the next day’s Direct, signals Nintendo wants the anniversary material to stand on its own rather than compete for time inside a broader show. The September 9 Direct then gets its own separate ~45-minute window built specifically around Switch 2’s winter lineup. That structure is the actual news here — the content of either show beyond what’s already been described remains unannounced.

Update: The September 8 Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct has now aired. It revealed the title and logo for the live-action Zelda movie — see our breakdown of what Nintendo’s “original story” framing actually means.

Update: The September 9 Direct has also aired, revealing Metroid Ravenous — see our breakdown of what Nintendo actually confirmed about Samus’ new powers and story — along with Kirby and the World Beyond, covered in our breakdown of Kirby’s new 3D adventure, and Marvelous’ Eternal Anima, covered in our release date, Future Sight and Psychometry breakdown.