The Partner Showcase was definitely something straight out of 2022 (complimentary): plenty of things for the RPG sickos, some games making their Nintendo debuts, and Borderlands 4 getting punted to the sizzle reel. But as the first post-Switch 2 launch showcase? I can definitely see why it fell flat in some circles. A grand opening of a Monster Hunter... Stories and a closing of two Square Enix HD-2D games does not an all-timer make.

Still, there are a few things that had they been included in the show could have elevated this to an all-timer (apart from a date for Age of Imprisonment, that's a Nintendo Today drop waiting to happen like Prime 4's).

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Tapping the sign gives you +2/+1 and Trample.

Silksong is supposed to be playable at a museum in Team Cherry's native Australia this fall and in Microsoft's booth at Gamescom later this month, so in theory we have never been so close to Silksong not coming out. Nintendo has used a Partner Showcase for a top-tier indie release before in 2020 with the 1.0 of the original Hades, so it's possible that the show COULD have had Silksong if by some miracle it's ready to go. But three previous announcements are why I believe we are unlikely to get the drop on it in a Direct:

• The original announcement in 2022 that the game would be on Microsoft GamePass day 1
• The continued attempts by Microsoft and ASUS to tie Silksong to the fall launch of the ROG Ally X
• Microsoft having a big show at Gamescom 2025

It feels like if anyone is going to shadowdrop Silksong, it's Microsoft. But they have something else to worry about.

Microsoft In General, Call of Duty In Particular

Speaking of Nintendo’s old neighbours, the only tangentially related product we've gotten from the genocide-abetting Microsoft on the Switch 2 is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4. Given that Microsoft is publisher / owner of more than half of the top selling games on Sony platforms this year according to Circana, they should have been all up in this grill. Especially with Call of Duty 2026, which is due this fall and currently is only slated to launch on PC and systems that start with "PlayStation" and "Xbox".

You might recall that in order to get the ABK merger through the courts in... most jurisdictions... that Microsoft signed what they claimed was a 10 year deal with Nintendo to get Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms. As of now, the fruits of that agreement are 404: Games Not Found.

Now, it's entirely possible that all of the people who had Nintendo development experience were caught in one of their mass layoffs earlier this year. They sacked their head of player safety, for Arceus’s sake. Or maybe there was an "unprecedented partnership" (derogatory) with Microsoft that died as soon as Nintendo said a more polite version of "There is no *Carlin word* way we're letting you say our hardware is an Xbox". Who knows. Either way, it's not like anyone's going to bother to take Microsoft to court over it.

Hades II

The original "big Partner Showcase shadowdrop" could have been a natural fit to show up this week and give an estimate for 1.0 and the console release that was announced in April (Switches first). It felt like they had a natural setup for Hades II to appear at this show. But it probably wasn't going to happen.

The original Hades had its final patch on July 2, 2020 and went 1.0 on September 17 (the aforementioned Partner Showcase day). Hades II was originally going to get its final patch before 1.0 a few weeks ago, but apparently something happened because it got I guess what you'd call an "overtime patch" on July 23. IE: A week ago Wednesday. At this point, it's equal odds to whether it gets shadowdropped in the next General Direct or just shows up on the eShop one day.

Final Fantasy VII

We didn't get any kind of release window for the Kingdom Hearts version of FF7 in April, just news that the game was coming and possibly dragging Rebirth behind it in a few years before the trilogy capper shortly after the heat death of the universe. Although it got one of Nintendo's "Creator's Voice" spots alongside such luminaries as The Duskbloods, Hades II, and that WB game we don't talk about they never really spilled a release date their either.

Square Enix was tied with Bandai Namco and EA (somehow) for the busiest third party in the Western show with four games each, all of which are slated to launch by the end of 2026. They added new details about DQ I+II HD-2D and announced a Switch 2 patch for III in the Japanese show as well. Based on that, they probably didn't have space to talk about FF7 Remake... and that seems like something that could come up in time for a 30th anniversary two years hence.

Elden Ring

My feelings about Elden Ring and most of From Soft's development work since around the prime of the Wii can be summed up with a quote from former Olympic and world wrestling champion Kurt Angle: "Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of the Dark Souls. And if I could go back in time and make any developer in history tap out, it'd be Miyazaki." Any game best played with the old Xbox Live Silver membership is not a game I want to deal with. But apparently I'm alone in this regard, given that Elden Ring sold about 30 million copies worldwide and crashed game journalism while its multiplayer Nightreign spinoff is one of the best selling games of this year.

Elden Ring (and The Duskbloods) were two of the major 3rd party announcements in the April 2 Direct, and when this Partner Showcase was announced I made a farmer's bet with my roommate that Elden Ring would not only show up, but its release date (more than "2025") would be either the first or last thing shown. Its lack of appearance in the show is half the reason I wrote this in the first place, even if the announcement of 2 player matchmaking in Nightreign should have been a signal.

Now, we're probably going to see a general Direct in September and it's still likely to appear then if it is truly coming out this year. And maybe the Showcase was Bandai Namco (the publisher) clearing the decks. But if they dropped a date for Elden Ring in the showcase, the show feels a lot different.

Honorable Mentions

• Professor Layton and the New World of Steam or Level-5 in general: As suggested by Willem, but not likely given that the new Inazuma Eleven is fresh off getting kicked to November.
• Persona 4 Rerun: Let's see more than a minute of footage before we start freaking out about this game missing Switch 2. It'll take that long to beat Reload anyway.
• Pokemon Legends: Z-A: It would have been funny to sneak this in under the Hyrule Warriors rule, but The Pokemon Company is effectively 1st party and Koei Tecmo isn't. And it got its flowers as the big fall Switch 2 release last week.
• Monster Hunter Wilds: It barely runs on >$9000 PCs and you think it'd be ready to show on Switch 2? Not without a Scarlet and Violet level patch fix.