- Release
- 5 November 2026, on Nintendo Switch 2 only.
- What it is
- A remake of the 1998 Nintendo 64 game, which Nintendo says was built from the ground up for Switch 2.
- Revealed
- Teased in the Nintendo Direct of 9 June 2026; shown in full and dated in The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct on 8 September 2026.
- Rating
- ESRB Everyone 10+ (Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence); PEGI 12 (Violence).
- Not confirmed
- Collectible counts, Master Quest, a hard mode, DLC and a launch hour.
How it was announced
🎬 A teaser in June
Nintendo announced the remake in its Nintendo Direct of 9 June 2026 with a short trailer and a 2026 window, and said more would follow later.
🗡️ The 40th Anniversary Direct
On 8 September 2026 Nintendo held a Direct of about half an hour for the series' 40th anniversary. Most of it went to this game: a new trailer, a gameplay demonstration led by series producer Eiji Aonuma, and the release date of 5 November.
🎞️ The overview trailer
Nintendo of America published an overview trailer on 14 October 2026, the same day hands-on previews from the press appeared.
What Nintendo says the game is
🧱 A remake, not a port
Nintendo of America calls it a classic tale built from the ground up for Nintendo Switch 2. Eiji Aonuma described it in the Direct as a faithful interpretation using modern technologies.
🎻 New presentation
Nintendo's store pages list completely overhauled visuals, voiced cutscenes, expanded dialogue and symphonic orchestral music.
🦘 New controls
Link can jump at the press of a button and dash across long distances, items can be swapped on the fly, and slingshots and bows can be aimed with motion controls. How this compares with the 1998 original is covered on the What's New in the Remake page.
🎵 Hum the songs
Ocarina songs can be played with the buttons, hummed into the Nintendo Switch 2's built-in microphone, or played on a real ocarina for the microphone to hear.
🧵 Threads of Time
A menu that recaps the story so far, shows your current objectives and keeps a tapestry of Link's journey.
📱 ZELDA NOTES
Support for ZELDA NOTES in the Nintendo Switch App on smart devices: a record of your accomplishments, a knowledge quiz, an ocarina you can play on the phone and more. It does not need a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
🧸 amiibo
Any existing amiibo from The Legend of Zelda series gives in-game extras. Two new figures, Young Link and Young Zelda, are due in 2027 and unlock in-game masks in a retro graphical style.
The basics from the store listings
| What Nintendo lists | |
|---|---|
| Players | One, on a single system. |
| Play modes | TV, tabletop and handheld. |
| Saves | Save Data Cloud with Nintendo Switch Online. |
| Display and sound | HDR output and surround sound; the US store also lists VRR output. |
| Languages | Japanese, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Chinese and Polish (the US store splits these into regional variants). |
| Estimated download | 27 GB, according to the US store, which warns the figure may change before launch. |
Not confirmed yet
- Counts for the remake: Heart Pieces, Gold Skulltulas, dungeons, songs. Numbers from the 1998 original or the 2011 Nintendo 3DS version do not carry over, and this guide will not use them until the game is out.
- Master Quest: Nintendo has not mentioned it for this version.
- A hard or hero mode, a demo, DLC or post-launch updates: none announced.
- A launch hour: Nintendo gives the date, not a time.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 22 October 2026 against Nintendo's own pages (the US store listings for the digital and physical game and its 14 October news post, the UK and French game pages, the Japanese game and product pages) and the coverage of The Verge, Eurogamer, IGN, Game Informer, Nintendo Life, Nintendo Everything and Pocket Gamer.biz. The 27 GB estimate comes from Nintendo's US store; Nintendo Life reports the same figure from Japanese download cards. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it.