Nintendo used its September 9 Direct to reveal ten confirmed titles for Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch, headlined by two franchise reboots fans had waited years to see: Metroid Ravenous, a new 2D action-adventure starring Samus Aran, and Kirby and the World Beyond, the series’ most ambitious 3D outing to date. The presentation, published as an official recap on Nintendo’s website, also confirmed release windows for Monster Hunter Wilds, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Persona 6, and several other Switch 2 projects that had been rumored for months.
For a platform still building out its exclusive lineup more than a year after launch, the Direct answered a question that had been building pressure among Switch 2 owners: when would Nintendo’s two most dormant franchises finally get real release dates. Metroid Ravenous now has one, January 28, 2027. Kirby and the World Beyond has a season, spring 2027. Both are confirmed exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.
What Nintendo Announced on September 9
The Direct followed Nintendo’s now-familiar format: a pre-recorded video presentation with no live audience, released simultaneously across regions and immediately followed by a written recap on Nintendo’s official site. The headline story, as confirmed in Nintendo’s own post titled “Nintendo Direct reveals Metroid Ravenous, Kirby and the World Beyond, and more games for Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch,” centered on the two franchise reveals, but the broader slate carried its own weight.
Alongside Metroid Ravenous and Kirby and the World Beyond, Nintendo confirmed Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition, Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition bundled with Dandori Academy, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Monster Hunter Wilds, Persona 6, Persona 4 Revival, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. That is a mix of brand-new titles, definitive re-releases, and enhanced ports, a pattern Nintendo has leaned on since Switch 2 launched to keep its release calendar full while first-party development catches up.
Coverage of the Direct spread quickly across gaming outlets and financial trackers alike, including TradingView, IGN, PCMag UK, Nintendo Life, and VGChartz, each treating the Metroid and Kirby reveals as the standout news of the broadcast. That cross-section of coverage, spanning enthusiast press and market-data platforms, points to how closely Nintendo’s Direct announcements are now watched outside the traditional gaming press.
Metroid Ravenous Brings Samus Back to 2D
Metroid Ravenous is a new 2D action-adventure game built around Samus Aran, Nintendo’s official recap confirms, and it is scheduled to release on Nintendo Switch 2 on January 28, 2027. As Nintendo put it in the reveal materials, “Fans got their first look at brand-new games featuring two iconic Nintendo heroes: Samus Aran in Metroid Ravenous, an intense new 2D action adventure, and Kirby’s journey through the expansive 3D landscapes of Kirby and the World Beyond, both coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch 2,” according to Nintendo’s official Direct recap.
The choice to stay in 2D is notable given the franchise’s history. Nintendo’s official UK Direct listing confirms the title plainly: “The latest game in the 2D Metroid series is coming to Nintendo Switch 2,” a framing that positions Ravenous as a direct continuation of the series’ side-scrolling roots rather than a shift toward the first-person Metroid Prime formula. Several outlets covering the reveal, including Nintendo Life and IGN, described Ravenous as the franchise’s most significant 2D entry in years, a reminder of just how rare mainline 2D Metroid releases have become since the series returned with Metroid Dread.
For longtime fans, this follows a summer of leak activity around the franchise. Shattered previously reported on a Super Metroid remake leak that surfaced ahead of this Direct, and Metroid Ravenous appears to be the answer to months of speculation about what Nintendo had planned for Samus on the new hardware. The January 28, 2027 date puts it early in Switch 2’s second full year on the market, a window Nintendo has typically reserved for first-party titles it wants to carry sales momentum through the post-holiday lull.
Kirby and the World Beyond Goes 3D
Kirby and the World Beyond is described in Nintendo’s materials as a 3D adventure that lets players explore expansive worlds using Kirby’s signature copy abilities, a structural departure from the largely 2D and semi-open 3D formats the series has used on Switch. Nintendo’s official Direct recap summarized the release window succinctly: “Kirby’s latest 3D adventure floats onto Nintendo Switch 2 next spring,” confirming a spring 2027 launch exclusive to the new console.
The separate listing on Nintendo’s UK site echoes the same detail with its own tagline, “Kirby and the World Beyond, Nintendo Switch 2, Go beyond spring 2027,” reinforcing that the spring window is Nintendo’s official language rather than a placeholder estimate from press coverage. No day-and-month date has been set, which is standard for Nintendo titles announced more than six months ahead of release.
Kirby’s move into a larger, freely explorable 3D space mirrors a broader trend across Nintendo’s stable, one visible in recent Zelda and Xenoblade entries that have traded linear level design for open traversal. Whether Kirby and the World Beyond adopts a fully open world or a series of large connected hubs was not detailed in the Direct, and outlets covering the announcement have so far stuck to Nintendo’s own “expansive worlds” language rather than speculating on scale.
The Full Switch 2 Release Slate Announced
Beyond the two headline reveals, the Direct filled out Switch 2’s release calendar through mid-2027. Nintendo confirmed dates or windows for eight additional titles, ranging from a definitive re-release of a Wii U-era spinoff to a long-anticipated remake sequel. The table below lists every title confirmed in the announcement, drawn directly from Nintendo’s official recap.
| Game | Platform | Release Date / Window |
|---|---|---|
| Metroid Ravenous | Nintendo Switch 2 | January 28, 2027 |
| Kirby and the World Beyond | Nintendo Switch 2 | Spring 2027 |
| Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition | Nintendo Switch 2 | February 25, 2027 |
| Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy | Nintendo Switch 2 | November 12, 2026 |
| Monster Hunter Wilds | Nintendo Switch 2 | December 4, 2026 |
| Final Fantasy VII Revelation | Nintendo Switch 2 | April 8, 2027 |
| Persona 4 Revival | Nintendo Switch 2 | May 20, 2027 |
| Nintendo Switch Sports Resort | Nintendo Switch 2 | Not yet dated |
| Persona 6 | Nintendo Switch 2 | Not yet dated |
| Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition | Nintendo Switch 2 | Not yet dated |
Reading the calendar in order, Nintendo has now staggered a major Switch 2 release roughly every four to six weeks from November 2026 through May 2027. That cadence covers the holiday quarter with Pikmin 4’s enhanced edition and Monster Hunter Wilds, then hands off to Metroid Ravenous and Hyrule Warriors in the traditionally quieter January-to-February window, before closing with Final Fantasy VII Revelation and Persona 4 Revival heading into summer. It is a release rhythm built to avoid the gaps that left Switch 2 leaning on ports for much of its first year.
Metroid vs. Kirby: Two Franchises Compared
Metroid and Kirby have followed different paths since their debuts, and the September Direct pushes them in different creative directions at the same time. One stays close to its side-scrolling roots, the other pursues a fully three-dimensional format for the first time at this scale. The comparison below lays out what Nintendo has confirmed about each project so far.
| Attribute | Metroid Ravenous | Kirby and the World Beyond |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | 2D action-adventure | 3D adventure |
| Protagonist | Samus Aran | Kirby |
| Platform | Nintendo Switch 2 | Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Release date | January 28, 2027 | Spring 2027 |
| Exclusivity | Switch 2 only, per the announcement | Switch 2 only, per the announcement |
| Reveal event | Nintendo Direct, September 9, 2026 | Nintendo Direct, September 9, 2026 |
The genre split matters strategically. A 2D Metroid is cheaper and faster to produce than an open 3D title, which likely explains why Ravenous lands first, in January, while Kirby’s more technically ambitious 3D world needs the extra months to spring. Nintendo has used this staggered approach before, shipping lower-risk 2D or remastered titles ahead of bigger 3D productions to keep its release calendar from bunching up around a single quarter.
Historical Context: Nintendo’s Direct Playbook
Nintendo has run its Direct format since 2011, and the September 9 broadcast fits a pattern the company has refined for well over a decade: no live stage, no crowd reactions, just a controlled video drop timed to hit multiple time zones during peak attention. That format gives Nintendo tighter control over pacing and messaging than a traditional press conference, at the cost of the spontaneity that live events like Sony’s State of Play or Xbox’s showcases sometimes generate.
From E3 Keynotes to Digital-First Directs
Nintendo’s shift away from live E3-style keynotes predates the pandemic-era collapse of the traditional trade show circuit, but the Direct format has become the industry default in the years since. Sony and Microsoft have both adopted similar pre-recorded formats for their own showcases, and this Direct’s back-to-back reveals of Metroid Ravenous and Kirby and the World Beyond show why the format still works for Nintendo: it lets the company sequence two franchise-defining announcements one after another without diluting either.
Why September Directs Matter for Nintendo’s Fiscal Calendar
September sits roughly midway through Nintendo’s fiscal year, which runs April to March, making it a natural checkpoint for the company to confirm titles that will carry the back half of the year and the start of the next. This Direct arrived days after Nintendo’s earlier September Direct dedicated to Zelda’s 40th anniversary, a presentation Shattered covered in detail when it was first scheduled. Running two Directs within roughly a week of each other is unusual even for Nintendo, and it signals how much software the company had queued up for reveal this fall.
Switch 2 Exclusivity and Nintendo’s Hardware Strategy
Both Metroid Ravenous and Kirby and the World Beyond were confirmed as Nintendo Switch 2 titles, and reports covering the reveal, including from outlets tracking the announcement in real time, described both as exclusive to the new hardware rather than cross-generation releases. That is a meaningful signal more than a year into Switch 2’s life cycle. Nintendo leaned heavily on backward-compatible and enhanced Switch 1 titles during the console’s launch window, and a Direct built around two brand-new, hardware-exclusive franchise entries suggests the studio’s internal teams have moved fully onto Switch 2-native development.
It also raises the stakes for anyone still holding out on a Switch 2 purchase. Shattered has tracked the console’s uneven rollout closely, from the account ban wave that hit some owners this month to the platform’s shifting price point, and a lineup this stacked gives Nintendo a stronger argument for holdouts to finally upgrade. Exclusive Metroid and Kirby entries are the kind of system-seller Nintendo has historically reserved for moments when it needs to reinforce hardware demand rather than simply pad a software calendar.
Market and Investor Reaction
Nintendo’s Directs have moved the company’s stock before. Earlier in 2026, a separate Direct coincided with a share price swing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, a reminder that investors treat major software reveals as data points on Switch 2’s software pipeline, not just entertainment news. Nintendo trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under ticker 7974, tracked on platforms like TradingView, and as an American Depositary Receipt under NTDOY, visible on Nasdaq.
The market logic behind watching Directs closely is straightforward. Switch 2 hardware sales are only half of Nintendo’s revenue story, the other half is attach rate, how many games each console owner buys. A Direct that confirms ten titles across an eight-month window, spanning budget-friendly enhanced editions and full-price new releases, gives analysts a clearer read on software revenue for the next two fiscal quarters than hardware shipment estimates alone can provide. That is part of why financial trackers like TradingView covered this specific announcement alongside gaming outlets rather than leaving it purely to the enthusiast press.
Competitive Landscape: Sony, Microsoft, and the Console Race
Nintendo’s September Direct lands at a moment when its two console rivals are pursuing very different strategies. Sony has continued to lean on PlayStation 5 as its primary hardware platform while pushing third-party timed exclusives and remasters, and Microsoft has shifted much of its messaging toward Xbox as a software and cloud ecosystem rather than a single box, a strategy that has drawn its own scrutiny. Nintendo, by contrast, is using this Direct to double down on first-party, hardware-exclusive franchise revivals, betting that Metroid and Kirby carry enough brand loyalty to sell Switch 2 units on their own.
That bet has precedent. The original Switch’s momentum in its second and third years leaned heavily on first-party exclusives arriving at a steady clip, from Metroid to Fire Emblem to Xenoblade, rather than third-party parity with PlayStation and Xbox. Confirming Metroid Ravenous and Kirby and the World Beyond within the same Direct, alongside Switch 2 editions of Pikmin 4 and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, suggests Nintendo is running the same playbook on the new hardware: win the exclusives race even if it means losing some third-party feature parity elsewhere.
Third-party support was not absent from the Direct either. Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Persona 6 all appeared in the same announcement, all confirmed for Nintendo Switch 2, which keeps Nintendo’s hardware competitive on cross-platform releases even as it leans on first-party exclusives to differentiate the console. Shattered has covered several of these third-party Switch 2 ports directly, including the Resident Evil remake trilogy’s October 16 arrival, part of a broader push to bring modern third-party catalogs to the platform.
What Industry Voices Are Saying
Nintendo’s own statements remain the most direct source on what the company is promising with these two titles. In its press materials summarizing the Direct, Nintendo framed the announcement around both characters at once: “Fans got their first look at brand-new games featuring two iconic Nintendo heroes: Samus Aran in Metroid Ravenous, an intense new 2D action adventure, and Kirby’s journey through the expansive 3D landscapes of Kirby and the World Beyond, both coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch 2,” according to Nintendo’s official recap.
Nintendo’s UK listing kept its Kirby messaging brief and seasonal, describing the game with the line “Kirby’s latest 3D adventure floats onto Nintendo Switch 2 next spring,” a tagline that leans on the character’s floating movement as much as its release timing, per Nintendo’s UK Direct recap. On the Metroid side, Nintendo’s own listing was more clinical, confirming simply that “The latest game in the 2D Metroid series is coming to Nintendo Switch 2,” language that leaves the story and setting details for a future trailer rather than the September reveal itself.
Pre-Orders, Editions, and the Amiibo Rollout
Pre-orders for titles confirmed in the Direct opened shortly after the broadcast, following Nintendo’s standard practice of listing new releases on its online store and with retail partners the same day a Direct airs. Some outlets covering the reveal also reported plans for special editions and an accompanying amiibo line tied to Metroid Ravenous, though Nintendo’s official recap did not publish full SKU or pricing details as part of the Direct itself, so those specifics remain unconfirmed pending a dedicated product page.
What is confirmed is the platform. Every title in the Direct’s release calendar, from Metroid Ravenous to Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, targets Nintendo Switch 2, continuing Nintendo’s push to migrate its active install base off the original Switch hardware more than four years after that console’s late-2026 sales figures started softening. Shattered has followed that transition closely, including coverage of the leaks that preceded this Direct pointing toward exactly this kind of first-party wave.
What This Means for the Rest of 2026 and Into 2027
With Pikmin 4’s enhanced edition and Monster Hunter Wilds anchoring the 2026 holiday quarter, and Metroid Ravenous following in late January, Nintendo has effectively pre-booked its next five months of major software conversations. That leaves less room for surprise announcements between now and spring, since most of the marketing calendar is already spoken for by confirmed titles with fixed or seasonal dates.
It also puts pressure on Nintendo to deliver more concrete details on the titles still marked “not yet dated,” namely Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, Persona 6, and the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Switch 2 edition. Those three will likely need firmer release windows before the calendar Nintendo just built starts to feel crowded, particularly if Kirby and the World Beyond’s spring 2027 window slips later into the season, a common occurrence for Nintendo’s own seasonal estimates.
Predictions: Where Nintendo Goes From Here
Based on the release calendar Nintendo just confirmed and the company’s recent Direct cadence, a few outcomes look likely over the next two quarters.
A dedicated Metroid Ravenous trailer arrives before the end of 2026. Nintendo rarely leaves a January release with only a single reveal-Direct appearance, and a game launching in the same fiscal quarter as its own marketing push typically gets at least one standalone story trailer in the preceding months.
Nintendo Switch Sports Resort and Persona 6 get firm dates by a winter Direct. Both remain “not yet dated” in the current calendar, and Nintendo has historically used a January or February Direct to fill in gaps left by a September presentation.
Kirby and the World Beyond’s spring 2027 window narrows to a specific month closer to launch. Nintendo typically converts seasonal windows to exact dates roughly 60 to 90 days ahead of release, which would put a firmer Kirby date reveal sometime around February or March 2027.
Switch 2 hardware attach-rate messaging becomes a bigger talking point in Nintendo’s next earnings call. With this many hardware-exclusive first-party titles now dated, expect Nintendo’s investor relations materials to lean on the Metroid and Kirby reveals as evidence of a strengthening software pipeline heading into fiscal year-end reporting.
Expect at least one more surprise third-party Switch 2 port announcement before Metroid Ravenous ships. Nintendo has consistently paired first-party reveals with unexpected third-party support in recent Directs, and the four-month gap before Ravenous’s January launch leaves room for at least one more announcement to keep momentum going.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Metroid Ravenous release?
Metroid Ravenous is confirmed for January 28, 2027, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2, according to Nintendo’s official Direct recap.
When does Kirby and the World Beyond come out?
Nintendo has confirmed a spring 2027 release window for Kirby and the World Beyond on Nintendo Switch 2. An exact date has not been announced.
Is Metroid Ravenous a 2D or 3D game?
Metroid Ravenous is a 2D action-adventure game, continuing the series’ side-scrolling format rather than the first-person Metroid Prime style.
Is Kirby and the World Beyond open world?
Nintendo describes it as a 3D adventure that lets players freely explore expansive worlds using Kirby’s copy abilities. Nintendo has not used the term “open world” in its official materials.
Are Metroid Ravenous and Kirby and the World Beyond exclusive to Switch 2?
Yes. Both titles were announced as Nintendo Switch 2 exclusives in the September 9 Direct, with no Nintendo Switch (original) version confirmed.
What other games were revealed in the same Direct?
Nintendo also confirmed Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition, Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition with Dandori Academy, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Monster Hunter Wilds, Persona 6, Persona 4 Revival, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition.
Can I pre-order Metroid Ravenous now?
Pre-orders typically open on Nintendo’s online store and with retail partners shortly after a Direct airs, following Nintendo’s standard release pattern, though special edition and amiibo details had not been fully published as of the Direct’s conclusion.
Why did Nintendo hold two Directs so close together in September 2026?
Nintendo’s September 9 Direct followed an earlier Direct tied to Zelda’s 40th anniversary. Running two major presentations within roughly a week is unusual for Nintendo and reflects how much confirmed software the company had queued for this fall and beyond.
