Nintendo has confirmed a Kirby Air Ride-focused Nintendo Direct will take place this week on Tuesday, August 19.
Last week, Super Smash Bros. creator and father of Kirby, Masahiro Sakurai, said that we should be finally seeing some gameplay from his upcoming Switch 2 racing game, Kirby Air Riders, “soon.” By soon I assumed that meant in an upcoming Nintendo Direct in September when Nintendo typically holds one, but turns out it’s even sooner than that.
On the Nintendo Today app, it was confirmed that Nintendo is hosting a Kirby Air Riders direct tomorrow, Tuesday, August 19, at 2pm BST / 9am ET / 6am PT. Not only that, but the direct is going to be 45 minutes long, which for those of you who remember how in-depth some of those Super Smash Bros Ultimate Nintendo Directs were, isn’t exactly surprising for Masahiro Sakurai.
Welcome, Riders! Follow this account for updates on the #KirbyAirRiders game. pic.twitter.com/lNHQkYtCckAugust 18, 2025
Nintendo also used this announcement as the time to finally put its Kirby Air Riders Twitter account to use with a debut Tweet. The post itself doesn’t say much, but the new profile picture on the account shows a pretty zonked looking Kirby toy on a little star, which will absolutely be my main if it becomes a character.
This will be the first batch of info we get about the Kirby Air Riders since the sequel to the cult-classic GameCube racer was unveiled at the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct back in April. This lack of information had some people wondering about the game’s status, with Nintendo’s former marketing leads suggesting that Kirby Air Riders should be delayed to 2026 if any development problems arise. However, considering it’s getting a big 45-minute blowout tomorrow, I’d expect it to hit that 2025 release date… unless this is a 45-minute apology.
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