Big Nintendo Direct Rumored for Late February, New 3D Mario ‘Confirmed’

A big Nintendo Direct has been rumoured for later this month, and we may already know what’s coming up.

We’ve already had two Nintendo Directs this year; last week’s Partner’s Showcase and the Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream Direct from last month.

However, we haven’t had a first-party Nintendo Direct yet for upcoming games that are coming from Nintendo itself.

A new rumour from insider Nash Weedle suggests that a Nintendo General Direct could be coming later this month, even claiming that a new 3D Mario game will be shown.

In the latest episode of the podcast Attack The Backlog, Weedle claims that Nintendo’s next first-party Direct will come in the third week of February, and that a “Big 3D Mario” is confirmed to appear.

According to Weedle, the sources for this new Mario game are the same sources who predicted the Switch 2’s first Direct for Donkey Kong Bananza last year.

The third week of February would place this Nintendo Direct as occurring any time between 16 and 20 February, considering Directs don’t land on weekends.

Let's Take These Rumours With A Pinch Of Salt

Regardless, let’s adjust our expectations accordingly for this. I’d even say take it all with a pinch of salt, as there’s a chance this won’t actually be true if it doesn’t come straight from Nintendo’s mouth.

To start with, Nintendo’s line-up is pretty stacked for the next few months.

Mario Tennis Fever is out on Thursday, Pokémon Pokopia in March, and then Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream in April.

So, new announcements are pretty unlikely for now, and Nintendo may save these for the spring or summer. Once it gets past the next few big releases set for this spring.

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Meanwhile, we just had a third party partner showcase last week which already featured loads of games confirmed for 2026 from publishers like Square Enix, Capcom, and Bethesda Softworks.

As for whether we’re getting a new 3D Mario game, I’m sure it’s coming.

With the upcoming The Super Mario Galaxy Movie releasing in April, I can definitely see a new Galaxy being in the works.

The Super Mario Odyssey team, Production Group No. 8, last worked on Donkey Kong Bananza which was released last year.

Reports indicate that this studio was split in half at some point before release, with half finishing off Donkey Kong and the other half working on a new 3D Mario game.