Here’s the latest rumor claiming the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct is happening this week.
We know, there has been way too many of these sketchy rumors going around already. As is the case with Nintendo, it can take as long as two years of rumors before we get that long awaited announcement of their long anticipated product. We got that kind of wild unsubstantiated rumor mongering around the Switch, and we have already seen a lot of people who were sure about an announcement last August or September have been proven wrong.
Still, this one at least has some credibility behind it, at least in the reasoning for it. A few hours ago, Walmart Canada Gaming’s Twitter account asked this question:
“Sooooooo…
When do you think we’ll see the next Nintendo Direct? “
Sounds innocuous enough, doesn’t it? YouTuber Doctre81 has laid out an interesting rumor about this tweet.
As explained in this video, Doctre81 has noticed two behaviors that may predict when Nintendo schedules a Direct. For one, Nintendo of America frequently schedules a Direct whenever a US holiday comes up. They don’t do this for every Direct or every holiday, but it’s common enough that fans can reasonably take each upcoming holiday as a red flag. Subsequently, Nintendo may schedule similar Direct events in Japan or Europe following Nintendo of America’s lead, but we have also seen instances when they don’t.
The other behavior is not from Nintendo but Walmart Canada Gaming. So that retailer Twitter account has been seen posting about a Direct just before Nintendo actually holds a Direct. As Doctre81 explains, this does not guarantee that a Direct will happen, but it’s a good indicator if other hints or rumors come up too.
And as Doctre81 has pointed out, there will be an American holiday coming up next week. Columbus Day is celebrated every second Monday of October, commemorating Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America. This is a recognized Federal holiday in the US, but there are several states and municipalities who abstain from celebrating the holiday. It’s also recognized in other countries, for various reasons, like other countries across Latin America who were also discovered by Columbus.
Subsequently, Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated every October 12 of every year, and was deliberately created to commemorate indigenous American peoples, in opposition to Columbus getting his own holiday. While it is not recognized under Federal law, the sitting POTUS Joe Biden has proclaimed Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an official holiday for the past three years. It certainly looks like POTUS will do that again this week, if not later today.
Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day do fall under the same day this year, on October 12, or Monday next week. This date and the Walmart tweet seem to support other rumors and speculation that the Direct is coming this month, and might be on that date itself.
Now, Doctre81 has no proof it will be the Switch 2 Direct, but believes that Walmart account doesn’t make these predictive tweets unless it’s a major Direct. Doctre81 refers to these as coincidences, but it’s reasonable to say that Nintendo and Walmart deliberately behave like this for good reason.
Nintendo would hold Directs during US holidays, because they could get attention from fans, particularly children and families. Walmart, on the other hand, is tweeting like this because they want you to buy games from them. But they may be making these low key predictive tweets because they know when Nintendo holds these presentations, and they know they can get away with it.