Surprise! A brand new Nintendo Direct focused on Kirby Air Riders will land tomorrow, Tuesday August 19 at 6am Pacific, 9am Eastern, or 2pm UK time.
Once again, Nintendo revealed the show first via its Nintendo Today smartphone app, and promised the broadcast would feature 45 minutes of information about the upcoming Switch 2 game.
Kirby Air Riders is notable for being the first new project in years from Masahiro Sakurai, the famed director of Nintendo’s smash hit Super Smash Bros. series. Tomorrow’s deep dive look at the game is also intriguingly timed, suggesting it may finally be playable at this week’s Gamescom event in Cologne.
To date, Nintendo has kept details of Kirby Air Riders close to its chest, though has said the pink puffball-staring racer should be expected to launch on Switch 2 later this year. It seems likely tomorrow’s Direct will provide a firmer release window.
Announced earlier this year alongside further details of the Switch 2 itself, Kirby Air Riders will be a sequel to the 2003 cult classic Kirby Air Ride for GameCube. Production on the game began in earnest back in 2023, following the end of Sakurai’s time overseeing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s lengthy schedule of downloadable content.
There’s no suggestion tomorrow’s show will include any other Switch 2 games beyond Kirby Air Riders (sorry, Metroid fans). Still, more information on what’s next from Sakurai and his talented development team should suffice.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
