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E3 2019: The key Switch announcements and all the games from Nintendo Direct

Breath of the Wild sequel announced, Animal Crossin: New Horizons delayed, and Banjo-Kazooie return to a Nintendo platform

E3 2019: The key Switch announcements and all the games from Nintendo Direct

Additional reporting by Matthew Forde.

Nintendo's E3 Direct for 2019 was filled with a raft of game reveals and release date announcements for Nintendo Switch.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Switch has been delayed to March 20th 2020. The game had been slated for a 2019 release, but Nintendo said it had pushed that back to “ensure that the game is the best it can be”.

One big title is still launching this year though: The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. The remake of the classic Game Boy title is heading for Nintendo’s console on September 20th 2019.

In other Zelda-related news, a Breath of the Wild sequel was also announced as in development for the Switch, though no release date was given.

Nintendo dedicated a couple slots of the Direct to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with the reveal of Hero from Dragon Quest XI entering the game as a playable character. The big news here though was the return of Banjo-Kazooie to a Nintendo platform.

The popular Rare characters made their start on the N64, and are now back as playable characters in Smash Bros. thanks to a collaboration with Microsoft.

Where are the mobile games?

Surprisingly, there was no news on Nintendo’s mobile games.

With Mario Kart Tour in beta and the upcoming launch of Dr. Mario World, it was a shame not to see the titles given even a passing mention. No new updates were given to existing mobile titles either.

There were many more Nintendo Switch first-party and third-party game announcements and details revealed during the Direct, however.

You can view a full list of those games, ordered by release date, below, to get a better understanding of what the Nintendo Switch’s upcoming release slate looks like.

Nintendo Switch 2019 and 2020 release schedule

June 2019

Contra Anniversary Collection (Konami) - Available today

Collection of Mana (Square Enix) - Available later today on Nintendo EShop

Cadence of Hyrule (Brace Yourself Games / Spike Chunsoft) - June 13th 2019

My Friend Pedro (Devolver Digital) - June 20th 2019

Catan (Asmodee Digital) - June 20th 2019

Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo) - June 28th 2019

July 2019

Stranger Things Season 3 The Game (Bonus XP/Netflix) - July 4th 2019

Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Square Enix) - July 12th 2019

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Team Ninja) - July 19th 2019

Wolfenstein Youngblood (Bethesda Softworks) - July 26th 2019

Fire Emblem Three Houses (Intelligent Systems / Koei Tecmo Games) - July 26th 2019

August 2019

Astral Chain (Platinum Games) - August 30th 2019

Summer 2019

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Hero/Erdrick Fighter Pass DLC (Nintendo) - Summer

September 2019

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Activision Publishing) - September 3rd 2019

Daemon X Machina (Marvelous / First Studio) - September 13th 2019

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc) - September 20th 2019

The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening (Nintendo) - September 20th 2019

Dead by Daylight (Behaviour Interactive Inc / Koch Media) - September 24th 2019

Contra Rogue Corps (Konami Digital Entertainment) - September 24th 2019

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition (Square Enix) - September 27th

November 2019

Just Dance 2020 (Ubisoft) - November 5th 2019

Pokemon Sword and Shield (Nintendo) - November 15th

Doom Eternal (Bethesda Softworks) - November 22nd, 2019

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega) - November 2019

Fall/Winter 2019

The Elder Scrolls: Blades (Bethesda Softworks) - Fall 2019

The Sinking City (Frogwares) - Fall 2019

New Super Lucky's Tale (Playful Studios) - Fall 2019

Resident Evil 5 (Capcom) - Fall 2019

Resident Evil 6 (Capcom) - Fall 2019

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Square Enix) - Winter

Panzer Dragoon (Megapixel Studio) - Winter 2019

Dauntless (Phoenix Labs) - Late 2019

Alien Isolation (Sega Europe Limited) - 2019

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Complete edition (CD Projekt RED) - 2019

Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Nintendo) - 2019

Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics (Netflix) 2019

2020

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) - March 20th 2020

Trials of Mana (Square Enix) - Early 2020

Empire of Sin (Romero Games / Paradox Interactive) - Spring 2020

Minecraft Dungeons - Mojang Studios - Spring 2020

No More Heroes 3 (Marvelous / Grasshopper Manufacture) - 2020

No release date

Hollow Knight Silksong (Team Cherry) - Coming soon

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - No release date

You can see all our E3 coverage right here.


Head of Content

Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.