Ocarina of Time Remake Began After Tears of the Kingdom

According to IGN's Logan Plant in an interview updated November 5, 2026, Nintendo's decision to make The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake came after development of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had ended. Producer Eiji Aonuma said the timing lined up with Zelda's 40th anniversary.

The remake launched for Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, 2026, the same day IGN published the conversation with Aonuma and producer Hidemaro Fujibayashi. It arrives among other November 2026 game releases on Nintendo's new hardware.

When did the Ocarina of Time remake start?

Aonuma told IGN it is hard to pin down an exact start date because the decision went through many steps. "It's hard to say exactly when the decision came about to remake Ocarina of Time in this way," he said. "I do believe it was after the Tears of Kingdom development had ended."

He said the team began talking about Zelda's 40th anniversary as staff moved to other projects. Ocarina of Time felt like a natural choice, both as an entry point for players and as his own professional start with the series. He was curious how younger Nintendo developers would interpret it for new players. Tears of the Kingdom launched in May 2023; Aonuma did not give a development length.

Some players saw the Switch 2 version before launch, a story we covered in our report on an Ocarina of Time remake leak.

What did the younger team change?

Fujibayashi said this was his first time producing a Zelda game after directing the last few. He stayed close to the front lines and had to adjust how he spoke with a wide age range on the team. Aonuma said nobody dictated "change this or don't change that." Younger staff came to a natural need for updates.

Those updates included manual camera control with the second analog stick and an auto jump, or jump anywhere, system. Graphics were renewed entirely, and all background music is in 5.1 surround. The aim was to use Switch 2 hardware while keeping the experience the original team wanted to deliver, a balance we also noted in our look at Switch 2 sales.

What else is new besides the controls?

One major addition is the Hall of Fallen Foes, which was not in the original game. Defeated enemies can be viewed with models and descriptions, and some boss battles can be recreated. When IGN asked about Master Quest or extra cut content, Aonuma said the team would not announce anything specific at this time.

Aonuma also recalled Miyamoto telling him late at night, "Hey, Mr. Aonuma, you know you can't really cut a wooden crate with a sword, right?" The point, he said, was to keep actions relatable to the real world so players can predict what might happen.