Fans have speculated on which studio is leading the development of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake since it was first announced, and a new Ask the Developer feature from Nintendo appears to give us the answer.
The interviewees in Nintendo’s online feature include longtime Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma and several members of Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) Production Group No. 3, which is the team behind the mainline Zelda games. In other words, the usual Zelda people are making the new Zelda game, as opposed to another studio like Monolith Soft or Grezzo.
Those other two studios have come up in fan discussions about the Ocarina of Time remake, due to their respective histories contributing to the Zelda franchise. Grezzo was behind the 3DS remakes of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, along with the Switch remake of Link’s Awakening. The studio also co-developed Echoes of Wisdom with EPD No. 3.
Monolith Soft, the Nintendo subsidiary behind the Xenoblade games, has taken more of a support role with Zelda games in recent years. The studio is credited with contributing to Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom.
Fans had guessed that either or both studios were working on the Ocarina remake for Switch 2, theorizing that EPD No. 3 was working on a new, mainline Zelda game. Neither Monolift Soft nor Grezzo are mentioned in the first two parts of the Ask the Developer feature (parts 3 and 4 will be published on November 3), but it’s still entirely possible that they could be involved in the production as support studios. We’ll have to wait and check the credits when the game launches on November 5.
For now, be comforted knowing that development on the Ocarina remake is being led by veterans of the beloved series, satisfying the fan desire to know exactly who’s making these Nintendo games.