Nintendo confirms a Kirby Air Riders Nintendo Direct is coming tomorrow and it's going to have 45 minutes of new info on the Switch 2 racer

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It better show off a new City Tour mode

A screenshot from the Kirby Air Riders reveal trailer, showing Kirby waving to the camera.
(Image credit: Nintendo)

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.

Kirby Air Riders Direct 8.19.2025 - YouTube Kirby Air Riders Direct 8.19.2025 - YouTube
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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 – who is confirmed to be hosting the presentation according to the YouTube stream description.

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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Scott McCrae
Scott McCrae
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Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

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