Nintendo has announced a dedicated Kirby Air Riders Direct will air on 19 August, with this set to illuminate more about the upcoming game, and how it will build on the foundations of GameCube classic, Kirby Air Ride.
To date, we’ve actually seen very little of Kirby Air Riders. It was originally announced during the Nintendo Switch 2’s blockbuster Nintendo Direct reveal, alongside a host of other games. The trailer showed Kirby struggling to maintain a grip on his personal Air Ride Machine (a glowing star), before finally stabilising it, and shooting off across a bright green forest.
As confirmed by a cheeky title drop, the game is a direct sequel to Kirby Air Ride, so we anticipate it will take plenty of cues from this game. For those unfamiliar, Air Ride is a racing spin-off that pits Kirby against a host of characters in rounds of high-speed racing.
What’s most novel about the upcoming sequel is that Masahiro Sakurai is returning from the original to direct this new take, ensuring a shared sensibility. With the added power of the Nintendo Switch 2, we can expect this sequel to be bigger and bolder – and most importantly, more beautiful.
We know very little about what’s to come, but with the Kirby Air Riders Direct now locked in, and this set to run a whopping 45 minutes, there will likely be plenty fewer questions post-show. We expect this Direct will go in-depth with the upcoming game, likely revealing game modes, characters, worlds, and more besides. Anyone keen to see what’s next for the Nintendo Switch 2 should certainly keep an eye out for developments.
How to watch the Kirby Air Riders Direct
As announced, the Kirby Air Riders Direct is set to air on 19 August, at the following times around the world:
- Australia – 11:00 pm AEST | 10:30 pm ACST | 9:00 pm AWST (19 August)
- New Zealand – 1:00 am NZST (20 August)
- United States – 6:00 am PT | 9:00 am ET (19 August)
- United Kingdom – 2:00 pm BST | 3:00 pm CEST (19 August)
The show will be live on YouTube and across other social media channels. Stay tuned for all the latest news and announcements.
Kirby Air Riders does not currently have a confirmed release date, but we do expect it to arrive by the end of the year – and this latest Nintendo Direct will likely confirm this window.
Also on ScreenHub: Screen NSW calls for responses to Digital Games Industry Survey
Screen NSW has released its Digital Games Industry Survey, which is designed to help shape the dedicated NSW Digital Games Strategy for the next three years. While the survey will take between 7-10 minutes to complete, that’s down to its complexity – it aims to ask deep questions about the needs of developers, to better shape the support provided by Screen NSW in future.
‘This is the first time Screen NSW has put together a survey specifically asking questions of the games industry and is a meaningful step forward in considering the voices of local game studios and developers,’ Ryan Penning, Screen NSW Games Investment Manager said on Bluesky.
As noted, the survey will inform the NSW Screen and Games Digital Strategy 2025-2027, a creative policy focussed on elevating storytelling and the arts in NSW. Currently, the survey broadly serves the local NSW arts community through various initiatives and funding. The focusses of this strategy are on ‘creating stories, building sustainable growth, improving capacity and capability, and developing audiences to increase demand.’
