A new rumor making the rounds online is that Nintendo plans on bringing its classic gameThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timeto the Nintendo Switch. This rumor seems to stem from Nintendo renewing theOcarina of Timetrademark in Australia and Europe, fueling speculation that the company plans on releasing something new related to the critically-acclaimedNintendo 64game.
Trademark renewals happen all the time and usually don’t mean much. Most of the time, trademark renewals are simply video game companies protecting their IPs, and so fans shouldn’t get their hopes up that this means anythingOcarina of Time-related is on the way for the Switch. That being said, there are a couple of bigZeldaanniversaries coming up in 2021, and so it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see Nintendo re-release arguably the most beloved game in the series.
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For one, 2021 marks the 35th anniversary ofThe Legend of Zeldafranchise. Nintendo is rumored to be celebratingSuper Mario’s 35th anniversary this year with the release of a3DSuper Mariocollection, so who’s to say it won’t giveZeldathe same treatment in 2021? Of course, Nintendo has yet to actually confirm that the 3DSuper Mariocollection exists, but it has been leaked by credible sources, including known industry insiders and even Amazon.
Meanwhile, the other bigZeldaanniversary coming up in 2021 is the 10 year anniversary ofThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3Dfor the Nintendo 3DS. Considering this, it seems like there would be no better way to celebrate than by releasing anOcarina of Timeremaster for Switch in 2021, withOcarina of Time 3D’s enhanced visuals and other new features in tow.
Then again, Nintendo may not want to re-release classicZeldagames and instead focus on releasing the next big game in the series.The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2has been in active development for quite some time, with some rumors pointing to it being even farther along in development than previously believed. One could argue that releasing a brand newZeldaadventure to celebrate the franchise’s 35th anniversary makes more sense than re-releasing older games, so maybe the Switch’s big 2021 game will beBreath of the Wild 2.
That being said, Nintendo has been pretty secretive about its upcoming releases. However, there are rumors that aNintendo Directis planned for some time this month, so maybe more clarification will come then. But while such a Direct may showcase the company’s holiday 2020 games, fans shouldn’t expect it to reveal any information on its 2021 plans.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timeis available now for the Nintendo 64.
