Nintendo Targets 2026 Ocarina Of Time Remake for Switch 2
Nintendo is moving ahead with an ocarina of time remake for Nintendo Switch 2, and the company says the game will arrive in 2026. The release is being timed to the Zelda series’ 40th anniversary, which gives this more weight than a routine catalog update.
Little was shown of the game, but what was on display pointed to a full visual overhaul of the original Nintendo 64 version. That approach puts the project closer to a ground-up rebuild than a simple polish pass, and it also moves the game away from the look of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
1998 To 2011
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time first arrived in 1998 on the Nintendo 64, then returned in 2003 on GameCube as part of a pre-order bonus for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. A 2011 remake followed on Nintendo 3DS with stereoscopic 3D effects and quality of life improvements, so the Switch 2 version becomes the latest in a long line of revisions rather than a one-off nostalgia play.
That history matters because Nintendo has spent decades treating this game as something worth reworking for new hardware. The Nintendo 64 original introduced the target-lock system, also known as Z-targeting, and context-sensitive buttons, features that helped define how later action-adventure games were built.
Lego And The Final Battle
Earlier this year, Nintendo and Lego released a 1,003-piece buildable version of the final battle from Ocarina of Time. The set includes a giant Ganondorf and minifigure versions of Link and Zelda, and it carries a $129.99 price tag, another sign that Nintendo still sees commercial value in the game’s imagery before the Switch 2 remake even lands.
The cleanest read on this announcement is that Nintendo is using a familiar title to bridge hardware generations while keeping the Zelda brand active ahead of a 2027 live-action movie. For players, the practical change is simple: Ocarina of Time is coming back in a new version, on new hardware, with a look that is being built to separate it from the series’ most recent 3D era.
May 7, 2027
Nintendo already has a live-action Legend of Zelda movie scheduled for theaters on May 7, 2027, so the 2026 remake gives the company another major Zelda release window before that film reaches screens. Taken together, the remake and the movie make Zelda one of Nintendo’s most active properties over the next two years.
