Ever since Nintendo officially revealed the upcoming remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time last month, there’s been speculation that it would put the game out in November. This was in part because it would be really funny and completely on-brand for Nintendo to be the only game publisher to just ignore the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI that month, and also because the rest of the release calendar is already getting pretty full. But a new fan theory offers a compelling case for why Nintendo might actually be doing this, and it has to do with amiibo.
In recent years, Nintendo has released new amiibo on the same day as it releases a new first-party game, seemingly to cut down on shipping costs. In some cases, the amiibo even gets its release date revealed before the game it’s shipping alongside. The game and amiibo don’t have to have anything to do with one another, either. For example, back in March, fans saw that the King Dedede amiibo was coming out on July 2. Nintendo later revealed that to be the day that the latest Rhythm Heaven was coming out.
According to the Nintendo UK Store, the Sword Kirby & Dragoon and Noir Dedede & Hydra Kirby Air Riders amiibo will be releasing on November 11th. An official announcement hasn’t been made by Nintendo yet, but it looks like news will be dropping soon! 💫 pic.twitter.com/uKSSAJlAu1
— Kirby Informer (@KirbyInformer) July 30, 2026
That brings us to yesterday, when Reddit user gaysaucemage spotted European Nintendo store listings (via TheGamer) for the Sword Kirby and Dragoon and Noir Dedede and Hydra amiibo coming on November 11. That would be a Wednesday, an unlikely day for a new game release, but updating the system clock on their device corrected the UK website release date to November 12. That’s not a guarantee that the Ocarina of Time remake will arrive then too, of course, but it’s strong evidence that some Nintendo first-party release will be out that day.
That day also happens to be a week before GTA VI launches on November 19. So either Nintendo is sending out the remake of what’s widely considered to be one of the best games ever made to go head-to-head with what’s likely to be the biggest single game launch ever, or some other poor game is getting sent out into that storm.
GTA VI isn’t on Switch 2, so Switch 2 owners will need something to play that month. For any Switch owners who also have a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S, their attention will likely be elsewhere that month.
