The Switch 2 Direct is just days away on April 2nd, and I’m convinced we’re going to see The Legend of Zelda. This is the biggest Nintendo Direct since the launch of the original Switch, therefore it makes sense to have one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises there as we deep dive into games, preorders and a roadmap for 2025. Today I’m going to look at what we could see from The Legend of Zelda in the Switch 2 Direct.

We’ve known about the Switch 2 Direct for a few months now, ever since Nintendo teased the console back at the start of the year. The wait is nearly over as Nintendo look to dive deep into Switch 2 this Wednesday. In a surprising move we also had a Nintendo Direct focused on Switch 1 this week, with the highlight being Metroid Prime 4, although no release date yet. The lack of Zelda in this direct further convinced me we’re going to see Zelda on April 2nd. As well as Zelda, I think we’re going to get launch details, price, pre-order information plus a roadmap for 2025 and beyond.

Nintendo have a history of launching Nintendo consoles with Zelda games. Back in 1986 they released the first Legend of Zelda game alonside the Famicom. In 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii with Twilight Princess. In 2017 Nintendo launched the Switch with Breath of the Wild. It’s not only consoles they have launched with Zelda, Virtual Consoles too. The Wii Virtual Console launched in 2006 with the The Legend of Zelda, then the 3DS Virtual Console in 2011 with Link’s Awakening DX. Nintendo knows Zelda games move consoles and when you have an exclusive game in the Legend of Zelda series, that means sales for Nintendo.

We can look back at sales of Zelda games to see the impact this can make for Nintendo. Breath of the Wild has passed 33 million and Tears of the Kingdom has topped 20 million. It’s likely there is a lot of overlap between those audiences, but still you are moving a lot of Nintendo Switch consoles with The Legend of Zelda series alone, that’s not taking into account remakes for Link’s Awakening, Skyward Sword and much of the back catalogue via Nintendo Switch Online. Other than a few notable exceptions, much of the Zelda back catalogue is available on Nintendo Switch. Ocarina of Time sold 14 million copies and Majoras Mask sold nearly 7 million copies, topping 20 million for the Nintendo 64. You can see how valuable Zelda is to selling consoles for Nintendo, they know that, and that’s why I think we’re going to see something from Zelda at the Switch 2 Direct on April 2nd.

What could we see from Nintendo? I’m going to go through some options here, and then grade them out of ten for likliness with 1 being not very likely to 10 being very likely.

Zelda Remake

I think we have a couple of candidates for a remake here. Ocarina of Time has been rumoured for some time. Yes, I know we’ve already seen a remake for Ocarina of Time on the 3DS, but that was before 33 million people bought Breath of the Wild and a whole new generation was introduced to Ocarina. Now could be the perfect time to reintroduce younger fans to Ocarina of Time, and bring the game up to modern standard in terms of graphics. Personally, I’d love to see Nintendo do something interesting with Ocarina of Time, play with the timeline and the time travel mechanics, something similar to Final Fantasy VII, but I think I am in the minority with this opinion.

The other options we have for a remake include Zelda II The Adventure of Link, I’d love to see this get turned into a souls-like metroidvania, that would be awesome. Or perhaps A Link Between Worlds. Something interesting did happen last year with a US retailer Newegg. The words Legend of Zelda Remake/Remaster were spotted on a Nintendo eShop gift card, which described games that were set to release in 2025. However, it’s not known if this was just a mistake, or information leaking early.

7/10 I think it’s pretty likely we’ll see an Ocarina of Time remake announced.

Wind Waker & Twilight Princess HD

Apparently both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess HD have been ported to Nintendo Switch, they are just sitting there waiting to be released (according to Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb). It would be great to get these games on Nintendo Switch. I think the only reason they haven’t been released yet is because they are being saved for a content gap. In recent times Nintendo like to release something related to The Legend of Zelda every year. In 2024 Echoes of Wisdom, 2023 Tears of the Kingdom, 2022 Majora’s Mask for Nintendo Switch Online (although I think Tears of the Kingdom was supposed to release here), 2021 Skyward Sword Remaster on Switch, 2020 Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity, 2019 Link’s Awakening and so on… I think Wind Waker and Twilight Princess were supposed to release in 2023 but got bumped because of the delay with Tears of the Kingdom. Whether or not they are big enough to launch with Switch 2 remains a question…

2/10 I think it’s unlikely we’ll see Wind Waker and Twilight Princess

Gamecube Nintendo Switch Online

Talking about Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, the launch of the Switch 2 could be the perfect time to bring Gamecube to Nintendo Switch Online. That could be a way to bring Wind Waker and Twilight Princess to the Switch 2, and add more value to Nintendo Switch Online. As well as the Zelda games we also have Mario Kart Double Dash, Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2, Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, Metroid Prime 2, Skies of Arcadia Legends and Luigi’s Mansion. Over time Nintendo has built up a great library on Nintendo Switch online, and adding Gamecube could help drive more people to sign up for the service.

5/10 I think we could see Gamecube games coming to NSO, now is the perfect time.

Breath of the Wild 4k

Next we have the potential for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom to see improvements through the native capabilities of Switch 2. That could mean 4K resolution, or running at 60fps. Historically Nintendo doesn’t really discuss these kind of tech specs, but I would expect some kind of upscaling and improved performance through the partnership with Nvidia.

According to reports from Digital Foundry, Nintendo have been working with Nvidia on a customised version of the T234 processor called the T239. The T239 is an advanced mobile processor, based on an octo-core ARM CPU, paired with a custom graphics unit based on Nvidia’s RTX 30-series Ampere architecture, combined with some backported elements from the latest Ada Lovelace GPUs – and with an all-new file decompression engine for fast engine.

In layman’s terms this could mean upscaled versions of our existing Switch 1 games, including Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Whether Nintendo is going to offer this functionality as standard, or even for free is still a question. I assume all Nintendo Switch 2 games will be supported by this new technology, making them look and feel like next-generation Nintendo games. I would love Nintendo to offer these graphical and peformance upgrades for free, but I have a feeling they may put this behing Nintendo Switch Online subscription to drive sign ups for that service.

8/10 I think we will see Nintendo upscale Switch 1 games, but which games and how they roll this feature out to the audience remains a question.

Next 3D Zelda teaser

The final thing we could see is a teaser for the next 3D Zelda. Last time we saw Tears of the Kingdom announced in 2019 under the working title of Breath of the Wild 2. That was 4 years before release. I don’t think we’re going to see gameplay, but I do think we could see a trailer for the next 3D Zelda. I think we’re leaving Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom behind, we’re going to see a new art style and a teaser trailer lasting 60 secs or so. Nintendo will want to give Zelda fans something to look forward to for the future, and this is the perfect time. Recent open-world Zelda games take 5 years to develop, so I wouldn’t expect the game to release before 2028, but the launch of a new Nintendo console is the perfect time to say “We’re working on it, and you can look forward to this in the future.”

8/10 It’s the new console launch, I think Nintendo will want to tease the next Zelda, even though it will be far away.

Let me know what you think in the comments. This is THE most exciting time for Zelda fans, we have a new console on the horizon, which means new games are in development. I’m excited for the future, and I hope you are too.