The first Nintendo Direct premiered on October 21st of 2011 and was intended to be a way for the company to communicate “directly” with consumers instead of holding press conferences with traditional media while also featuring developer interviews and even humorous skits. The company has since almost completely moved over to this format for announcing major news about upcoming releases and it has almost become an industry standard with both Sony and Microsoft hosting their own State of Play and Inside Xbox showcases. Capcom, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and others have also put on similar digital shows and the ongoing pandemic has only boosted their popularity due to not requiring live audiences.
What kind of impact has the Direct format had and continue to have on the videogames industry? With the pandemic dying down will there be a return to live conferences, and if so what kind of advantages or disadvantages do they have compared to prerecorded digital shows? We watch them …