Nintendo Makes Official Statement On The Next Legend Of Zelda Game

Published Nov 3, 2026, 6:50 AM EST

James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC.

It really has been such an exciting year for Legend of Zelda fans as a whole that it would have been very easy to forget that we don't really know what's going on with the series next. The Ocarina of Time Remake is about to drop into players' laps for the first time, and that should be a nostalgic trip down memory lane that we can all get behind for a few months.

That said, when the dust has settled on that, we'll still be none the wiser about what's coming for the series next. Tears of the Kingdom remains the last mainline 3D entry in the series, and fans have been shouting from the rooftops about what they want Nintendo to do with the series moving forward.

Now, the developer has broken cover for the first time, and though they didn't go as far as sharing their plans for the next game in detail, they did give us an interesting tidbit that should mean we can take some lessons from Ocarina of Time when it drops.

It's no secret at this point that we are over three years from the release of Tears of the Kingdom at this point, meaning that we are quite overdue for some information on where we're headed from here. The community is split between those who want another game in the style laid out by Breath of the Wild, and those who want to see something entirely new.

Interestingly, it seems as though Ocarina of Time could serve as a great guide for what we can expect from the next game (whenever it comes), despite obviously being a remake of a much older title. In the latest installment of Nintendo’s “Ask the Developer” feature, producer Eiji Aonuma spoke about the young team who are steering the remake, and how it might influence future arrivals in the franchise.

"By learning the game structure and development style behind the original The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and by actually rebuilding it as a full remake, it may trigger new insights that they can carry forward into future development. If we could achieve that, I thought it would be incredibly valuable. That’s what led us to the conclusion that now is the right time to revisit The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time once again."

The word insights is an interesting one, because that feels more like the producer is referencing individual gameplay elements or storytelling devices, rather than an overall art style or other macro elements.

In any case, if the Ocarina of Time Remake manages to recapture even a fraction of the magic from the original, then it should serve as a great way to spend some time gaming in the run-up to Christmas and the holidays. That should buy Nintendo space to continue working away in the background quietly on the next Legend of Zelda game, though fans will undoubtedly be expecting to hear something significant in the first half of next year.