Nintendo has announced that the company will not be holding a Nintendo Direct during the month of June 2020. The announcement came after Nintendo told its partners that the event had been canned as COVID-19 issues pile on. This means that this Summer is looking pretty wonky for new games and other announcements.
The Nintendo Direct has long been a rather interesting mini debut of Nintendo’s various games, consoles and other planned releases. The Direct broadcasts have become a more controlled and fan-focused alternative for Nintendo to E3, allowing them to hyperfocus on fans and the games they want to play.
As with the rest of the gaming industry, Nintendo is dealing with the various struggles stemming from COVID-19 around the globe. Publishers, developers, and manufacturers have all been hit with various production issues as staffing levels fluctuate wildly. Nintendo is dealing with shortages of its Switch consoles as well as having various development projects slow down due to remote work being the new standard.
This has caused a variety of games and patches to become delayed, as development work across the industry is disrupted. It’s also worth noting that Nintendo could suffer the same delays as any other company. Nintendo noted in its previous Direct from March that “release dates and other information … are subject to change” due to COVID-19.
The original plan seemed to be that Nintendo was going to use the Nintendo Direct to replace their showing at E3, as the event was called off earlier this year. According to VentureBeat Nintendo has halted plans to do so in 2020 due to its own COVID-19 complications.
