Nintendo is reportedly making more re-releases for the Switch, something that has fans of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker hopeful for a re-launch of these remasters.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is coming but Nintendo isn’t planning to drop the existing Switch immediately. The company told shareholders in 2023 that it plans to keep the Nintendo Switch alive for the foreseeable future. According to reports, those plans are true, with the company planning remasters or remakes of major titles into its next fiscal year.
Pedro Henrique “tvPH” Lutti Lippe has been at the forefront of news on the Nintendo Switch 2. He discussed some of the company’s upcoming plans for its past-gen hardware on YouTube.
Nintendo Switch reportedly set to get new releases deep into 2025
The Nintendo Switch is going to get new first-party releases into Nintendo’s fiscal year ending March 2026.
Nintendo stated in a 2023 financial report that its future business plans included a rejection of the “platform lifecycle” concept. This would lead to the company “[maintaining] business momentum” with the console through new releases. This was long before the confirmation of a next-gen console.
tvPH’s report has reignited discussion regarding The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess remasters for Nintendo Switch. It’s unclear which games he was referring to, but these may be the most likely candidates. Regardless, fans can likely look forward to a steady stream of notable releases on the Switch for some time.
The Nintendo 3DS continued to receive major releases after the Nintendo Switch’s launch. This included several acclaimed first and third-party releases including Metroid: Samus Returns, Persona Q2, and Radiant Historia.
The Nintendo 3DS was uniquely positioned in 2017 relative to where the Switch stands in 2024. Games could be produced faster and its games were separate from the console market. It was also an awkward time for Nintendo, as it was recovering from the Wii U’s commercial struggles. The massive user base of the Nintendo Switch should see it retain continued support, and while original games may be a thing of the past, that doesn’t mean there won’t be fun to be had.
Could a new The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess remaster come to Switch?
The Nintendo Switch is reportedly set to receive remasters and remakes of 3DS and GameCube games potentially into 2026.
tvPH didn’t offer any specifics regarding what these games may be. The GameCube and 3DS happen to be home to many of the most sought-after re-releases for Nintendo fans. In particular, the Nintendo GameCube was the original home to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker. The 3DS had three wildly successful Zelda games in the remakes of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and A Link Between Worlds.
Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker were both remastered and released on the Nintendo Wii U. The console’s commercial struggles, the Switch’s lack of backwards compatibility, and shutdown of Wii U and 3DS servers have seen many of these games become inaccessible for the vast majority of gamers.
There’s no guarantee that these games, or any Zelda game, will be the ones to get remastered. The GameCube and 3DS have a very long list of first-party titles that could receive this treatment. Reviving series like Wave Race and F-Zero with GameCube remasters, following up on the success of Metroid Prime: Remastered, or maintaining life support for series like Kid Icarus is also possible.
