Nintendo made a big announcement on Twitter today. According to the official Twitter account of Nintendo of America, there is going to be a new Indie World Showcase sometime this week.
Nintendo has made a huge push in recent years to market directly to fans. Eschewing the more crowded and indirect ways of announcing games at places like E3 or Gamescom, Nintendo has started releasing periodic "Nintendo Directs" where it livestreams upcoming game announcements directly to fans. "Indie World Showcases" exist as the Nintendo Directs' smaller counterparts; they focus specifically on indie titles for Nintendo's systems, giving them exposure they might not get otherwise.
According to Nintendo's tweet, the Indie World Showcase is going to be on Wednesday at 9 am PT. It also confirmed that the presentation will be about 20 minutes and, much like previous Indie World Showcases, is going to focus entirely on new indie games coming to Nintendo Switch.
The most recent Indie World Showcase from December revealed several huge games for the Switch. Both Spelunky and Spelunky 2 were announced for Swtich. Super Meat Boy Forever was announced as a timed exclusive for the system. The 8-bit styled Metroidvania Cyber Shadow published by Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games was also announced for the system. The social deduction game Gnosia, which released early last month, was also revealed during the presentation. The biggest announcement from the last Indie World Showcase, though, was probably the release of the hit indie game Among Us for the system later that same day.
Recently, eagle eyed fans were able to spot a page on Nintendo's website for the stealth action-adventure game Republique. This has fueled speculation that Republique may be coming to the Switch. The page has since been taken down, but it's possible that it might still be officially announced at tomorrow's Indie World Showcase.
Indie games are important for Nintendo because they can fill in gaps between major releases and add value to the Switch for consumers. Indies are also good for consumers because they tend to be more experimental than AAA titles and are willing to explore niche genres that don't get as much attention from major publishers. This Indie World Showcase will probably include several announcements for entirely new games, although a few might just be new ports of already-released games. Some might even be announced for release after the presentation. Either way, though, this presentation and the games it announces should tide fans over until the next Nintendo Direct, which is rumored to be coming in June.
