I’m not the biggest amiibo collector out there, but I’ll say up front that the sizable handful I do own are almost exclusively Zelda. Funny thing is, I hardly find myself actually using them in the Switch 2 games that I play, not because they aren’t worth something, but I’m pretty sure I collect them because, as a former action figure fan, it fulfills my inner-kid’s desires. It’s a nostalgia play, I guess, and it’s precisely why several of them sit on display on my desk, despite what I can only assume are my wife’s wishes that “toys” not be used as decoration in our house. So, of course, I have the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake’s young Link and Zelda amiibo already pre-ordered, as I managed to get ahold of them before they understandably sold out. After all, they look fantastic, and together, they’re tied to my childhood in a way not many other amiibo are.
And speaking of nostalgia plays, Nintendo certainly outdid themselves with these two amiibo, as using them in the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake unlocks wearable in-game masks that give Link a retro, low-resolution polygonal appearance modeled after the original 1998 Nintendo 64 release. To me, that makes them more than worth it—apart from the fact that, again, the amiibo just look cool—even though I’d love it if a Ganondorf amiibo were eventually released as well, because seeing young Link running around Hyrule Castle Town wearing a low-poly Ganon mask would be hilarious. But what I find even more interesting about these amiibo than what they unlock is when they are actually going to arrive. You’d think they would arrive alongside the Ocarina of Time remake’s Switch 2 launch, but that’s not the case. Instead, they won’t be in my hands until an unannounced date in 2027, which seems awfully late to arrive without a reason.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake’s Amiibo Timing Makes Nintendo’s 2027 Plans Hard to Ignore
What I mean when I say that the Ocarina of Time remake’s amiibo will be arriving awfully late is that if the game is launching on November 5, 2026, and the amiibo aren’t launching until sometime next year, most (if not all) of us will have moved on from the game before they even get here. Does that mean they can’t still be used? Of course not. Because amiibo aren’t some limited-time download, you can make use of them for as long as you want. But if I’ve beaten the Ocarina of Time remake by the time the amiibo do arrive—and it’s possible I will have already beaten it multiple times—then the amiibo will have effectively become irrelevant from a gameplay standpoint, and their in-game rewards useless to me.
I do use the term “rewards” lightly, because these are cosmetics that have no impact on gameplay whatsoever. Even so, how can I truly enjoy those Link and Zelda masks if I’m not even playing the game anymore? Sure, I can enjoy them for their appearance, and, as I said, appreciate them every time I look at them sitting on my desk. But aren’t amiibo meant to be more than a trophy or a symbol of my interests? Aren’t they meant to be an extension of the games that I’m playing on the Switch 2—a way to connect something tangible to something virtual? If that’s the case, then what’s the point in releasing the amiibo so far out from the Ocarina of Time remake itself?
Ocarina of Time Remake’s Amiibo Timing Could Be Teasing Nintendo’s 2027 Plans
And herein lies the “without a reason” part of my observation. The Ocarina of Time remake amiibo seem to be arriving awfully late to the party for there to be no reason behind it. And I realize saying “no reason” might sound insensitive to those who may, for whatever reason, not get around to playing the Ocarina of Time remake until next year. But I can almost guarantee that the game will be irrelevant by the time the amiibo launch. Unless, of course, Nintendo has something else up its sleeve—and that’s what I’m trying to get at here.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)
For one thing, Nintendo has already confirmed that it plans to extend The Legend of Zelda‘s 40th anniversary celebrations into next year, and that could, in fact, mean the amiibo aren’t arriving alone. Maybe that means more Ocarina of Time remake content is planned for 2027. Maybe Nintendo is saving another Zelda announcement for the second half of its anniversary celebration, and these amiibo are meant to arrive alongside it. It could even be something much smaller, like a free update that gives players a reason to return to the remake months after launch. I don’t know, and Nintendo hasn’t given us anything concrete to work with yet. But the timing is strange enough that I can’t help wondering whether these amiibo are attached to something we simply haven’t seen yet.
Otherwise, Nintendo is asking players to buy accessories for a game many of them may have already put down months earlier, and that feels like a missed opportunity. If these amiibo really are part of a bigger 2027 release plan, though, their late arrival suddenly makes a lot more sense. For now, I’m just hoping my desk has room for whatever else Nintendo might be hiding.
- Released
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November 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
