Metroid Ravenous Leads Switch 2 Winter Lineup at Nintendo Direct September 2026

Nintendo has dated Metroid Ravenous for January 28, 2027, a new side-scrolling entry in the series that will be sold only for Switch 2. The reveal anchored the Nintendo Direct September 2026 broadcast, which also confirmed Kirby and the World Beyond for spring 2027. Nintendo describes Kirby as the first open-world game in the series.

The show ran on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 from 7:00 a.m. PT and lasted about 45 minutes. A Nintendo Treehouse Live session with gameplay footage followed. Nintendo scheduled the broadcast one day after a separate Direct marking Zelda's 40th anniversary, and kept the September show focused on Switch 2 software arriving across the winter.

Both first-party reveals were held until the end of the broadcast, after a long run of third-party trailers and date cards. The sequencing handed the closing slot to the two games Nintendo is not sharing with the older console.

What Nintendo Direct September 2026 Dated for Switch 2

Nintendo put firm release dates on six titles during the broadcast, most of them landing before the end of 2026.

Only two entries on that list are built from the ground up for Switch 2, and both arrive in 2027. The rest of the winter calendar leans on ports, remasters and Switch 2 Editions of games already available on the original Switch.

Three of the dated titles ship within 13 days of each other in September, while December and January are each carried by a single game. That spacing gives every release a short window of its own instead of stacking several launches into one week.

The September cluster is the earliest spending decision for Switch 2 owners. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave arrives September 17, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight follows a day later, and The Witcher 3 Remastered closes the run on September 29, putting three notable releases inside a fortnight.

Monster Hunter Wilds arrives on December 4, 2026 with local multiplayer support, and Nintendo confirmed the Ascendance expansion will follow in 2027. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered lands on September 29, 2026, with the Songs of the Past expansion also set for 2027.

Atlus titles feature too. Persona 6 is a new mainline entry in the series, and Persona 4 Revival is a remaster. Nintendo confirmed both for Switch 2 but attached no dates. Neither falls inside the winter window the company is promoting. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Definitive Edition is heading to the console as well, carrying the Zelda anniversary slate into the new library, and a new Nintendo Switch Sports Resort appeared in the lineup.

Third-party support is the quieter story. Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds and CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3 Remastered give Switch 2 two large open-world titles in the same season, and both carry expansion plans stretching into 2027. Those plans extend each game's content pipeline into the following year, past the winter window Nintendo is promoting.

Metroid Ravenous Returns the Series to 2D

Metroid Ravenous is a side-scrolling action game starring bounty hunter Samus Aran. It follows 2021's Metroid Dread as the newest point in the series timeline and the first original 2D entry since that game. Footage showed Samus draining life energy from enemies, a mechanic that changes the pace of combat compared with Dread's parry-and-counter focus.

Nintendo confirmed a collector's edition bundled with a steel case, along with new amiibo figures covering Samus, a Chozo Statue and a Metroid Suit version of the character.

The January date gives Switch 2 a first-party release in the first month of 2027, about four months after the Direct. Because the game is exclusive to the newer hardware, anyone still playing on the original Switch cannot follow the series forward without upgrading.

That exclusivity does double duty for Nintendo. Ravenous and Kirby and the World Beyond cannot be played on the 2017 console, so the pair work as reasons to move onto Switch 2 rather than as additions to a library many owners already have.

Kirby and the World Beyond Opens Up

Nintendo closed the broadcast with Kirby and the World Beyond, a 3D adventure that puts the character in open environments instead of the stage-by-stage structure earlier Kirby games used. It is listed for spring 2027 and, like Ravenous, will not appear on the original Switch.

Together the two reveals shape Nintendo's 2027 pitch: Metroid for players who want difficulty and precision, Kirby for a wider audience that has bought the series in large numbers. Holding both back until after the holidays leaves the winter window to third parties and re-releases.

Free updates fill part of that gap. Star Fox receives a patch adding a four-player split-screen battle mode, three new stages and online team play. Kirby Air Riders gets an update that changes some in-game areas and completes its amiibo figure set. Mario Kart World also picked up new content during the show.

Collectors have a defined set of targets: the Metroid Ravenous special edition with its steel case and three amiibo figures, plus the Kirby Air Riders amiibo line completed by the same update. Nintendo did not detail upgrade pricing or save-transfer options for the Switch 2 Editions on the schedule, which leaves owners of the original versions weighing whether to buy again.

Why this matters

Switch 2 owners get a dense four months of software, but most of it has already appeared elsewhere, and the new Nintendo games sit in 2027. The console's second holiday season therefore rests on ports, remasters and free updates rather than new exclusives.

The January 28 date for Metroid Ravenous sets a fixed endpoint for that strategy, with Kirby and the World Beyond following in spring 2027. How well the winter slate holds attention until then depends on how many players see value in revisiting games they may already own.

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Researched and cross-referenced against primary sources by the Bytevyte editorial team. This article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the Bytevyte editorial team.