As it stands at the moment, Nintendo’s games lineup for 2026 is quite the mystery.

Oh sure, we know that Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is due to be released on April 16th, that Yoshi & The Mysterious Book is scheduled for the 21st of May and that games like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and Rhythm Heaven Groove are meant to be out by the end of the year…

But that’s generally about it. Other announced games like Splatoon Raiders don’t have a release date in sight, while other big series like 3D Mario, Zelda and Super Smash Bros don’t have any planned games in the pipeline at all.

However, while official sources have left things rather vague, unofficial ones may be able to fill in the gap. Why? Because a popular video game leaker called NateTheHate has said that a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is finishing up development, and is due to be released by the end of the year.

He also said that a new Star Fox game is due to be revealed soon (with stunning graphics), that the next major Nintendo Direct won’t be until June, and that the next 3D Mario title will be a 2027 game instead.

Here’s the video he posted with his leaks and predictions:

And to be honest, we’re kinda torn on how accurate they are. On the one hand, a lot of these things do make sense on some level.

For example, Donkey Kong Bananza was the 3D Mario team’s big game for 2025, and likely took a fair few resources that would otherwise have gone into said title. So, it makes sense the new Mario game would be a year or so off, and that Nintendo would try and get people’s attention on Bananza rather than seeing it immediately overshadowed by its Mario related counterpart.

Similarly, a Star Fox revival doesn’t seem too unexpected here. Nintendo has always been a company to give struggling IPs a second chance, especially when they’ve previously been smash hits. Metroid got a bunch of big new games after disappointments like Metroid: Other M and Metroid Prime: Federation Force, while F-Zero got revived as F-Zero 99 after years of inactivity. Heck, even the Mario & Luigi series could count here, given that Paper Jam and the 3DS remakes bombed big-time upon release. So, the likelihood of a new Star Fox has always been pretty good. Miyamoto likes the series, Nintendo as a whole tends to like the series, and Fox McCloud has often made cameo or supporting appearances in other media too.

They want this franchise to succeed again, and seem willing to do whatever’s needed to make that happen.

Finally, the whole ‘no Direct until June’ thing doesn’t exactly seem too far-fetched here. Nintendo have been announcing games and updates via social media posts instead of presentations recently, and their actual Directs have all generally been saved for more specific topics like the Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. So, it does seem like the days of general Nintendo Directs might be drawing to a close, with apps like Nintendo Today providing the announcements on a much more granular level.

Meanwhile Nate’s own record as a leaker has been fairly decent. He predicted that Winds & Waves would be announced in February and look more visually pleasing than past titles, which was backed up this Pokemon Day. He predicted the first Nintendo Direct would be in the first week of February, which was confirmed by a Partner Showcase on February 5th. He confirmed there was a Nintendo Direct on September 11th or September 12th 2025, which indeed happened as expected.

And he said that Resident Evil Requiem would be revealed in June 2025, which did in fact happen. So, he’s had some hits as a leaker. He’s not been completely off the mark with these ‘predictions’.

But he’s not got a perfect track record. For example, he also said that the Switch 2 would be a holiday 2025 release, which was very much not the case. There were also a ton of 2026 game predictions that mostly didn’t come true like a major 3D Mario game, Pokemon Winds & Waves and DLC for Mario Kart World.

NateTheHate 2026 Switch 2 1st Party Predictions:

– 3D Mario big holiday release
– Pokemon Gen 10 the other holiday release
– Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Definitive Edition
– Switch 2 Editions – Maybe Switch Sports & Pikmin 4
– Significant Mario Kart World DLC
– Zelda Remaster or… pic.twitter.com/6KWvBlCpFe

— Stealth (@Stealth40k) January 26, 2026

Finally, there are a ton of games he seems confident about that just haven’t been seen at all, like ports of the Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD, a port of Kirby Planet Robobot for Switch/Switch 2, and remakes/remasters of Metroid Prime 2 and 3.

Hence we do have to remain somewhat sceptical here. Nate obviously has sources for his information, but those sources aren’t always right, either because plans have changed at the companies involved or because said sources misheard or misunderstood what they were told.

Still, as it stands, it seems possible that Ocarina of Time will get a Switch 2 remake, and that a new Star Fox game will be announced later this year. So, what do you think? Are these plausible announcements for 2026? What other games do you think Nintendo could show off before the end of the year?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below, on social media, or on our Discord server today!

Source:

Rumour: Nintendo’s 2026 Plans Include New Star Fox & Zelda Remake, No 3D Mario (Nintendo Life)