Nintendo Direct September 2025: 3 games you probably won’t see

There’s a huge Nintendo Direct coming up on Friday morning, but it might be beneficial to lower your expectations just a tiny bit.

To be clear, I’m not saying the Direct won’t be great or anything. But at the end of the day, it’s a video game announcement livestream, and the realities of game development mean that the thing you’re most excited about simply might not be ready to show yet. Games take a long time to make, and Nintendo entered the Switch 2 era having just recently launched new games in a couple of major franchises.

With that in mind, let’s talk about the games you most likely won’t be seeing on Friday morning.

One thing I want to say up front is that I would love to be wrong about these. I like these games and franchises as much as the next guy! But patience is key in the world of gaming.

The next Legend of Zelda game

I hate to be the bearer of bad news because I don’t know anyone personally who likes or cares about The Legend of Zelda more than yours truly. Zelda fans like myself ate good during the Switch 1 years, especially near the end, as Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom launched within 18 months of each other.

That’s precisely why I don’t think it’s time to see the next game in this legendary series just yet. There was a six year gap between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, and the latter only came out a little more than two years ago. Having said all of that, I am ready to eat crow if necessary. It should be noted that Nintendo teased Tears for the first time only a couple of years after Breath came out. A big Switch 2-exclusive Zelda tease would be a hell of a “one more thing” at the end of this Direct.

The next big Super Mario game

What is this cool guy up to?
Credit: Nintendo

It seems really bizarre that there’s a big shiny new Nintendo console out and we haven’t heard a peep about the next mainline Super Mario platformer. Pretty much every Nintendo home console ever made has gotten a big, proper Mario game within a year of launch, which means the game is usually, you know, announced by the time the console comes out. That is not the case with Switch 2 and there’s a good reason for that.

In case you didn’t know, Donkey Kong Bananza was made by the team that made Super Mario Odyssey, the famed plumber’s last 3D platforming adventure. It’s a wonderful game that scratches the 3D Mario itch, but obviously, it’s not a Mario game. I’m confident there will be a big 3D Mario game for Switch 2 at some point, but if the Bananza team is responsible for it, we might have to wait a while.

That said, Nintendo could also have had another team working on Mario’s next adventure this whole time. It’s not completely implausible to think we’ll see what’s next for Mario in the Direct, but I’m not counting on it.

Final Fantasy IX remake

It’d be a bummer if those rumors turned out to be wrong.
Credit: Square Enix/Steam

Final Fantasy IX, a beloved RPG for the original PlayStation, had its 25th anniversary this year. Coinciding with that were reports from credible sources that a remake of the game is in development. In fact, a lot of people I know figured it would show up in the last Nintendo Direct back in April, but it didn’t. It also hasn’t shown up in any form anywhere else since then, as at least one leaker has suggested the project is in trouble.

I would love to see this come to fruition because FFIX is one of the few games in the series I’ve never played, but I just have a feeling we won’t see it on Friday, and maybe not ever. I’ve been wrong many times before, so consider this an attempt at reverse-jinxing the game into existence.