Is Nintendo Brave Enough To Take On GTA 6 With The Ocarina of Time Remake?

ocarina remake
Alister Kennedy
By Alister KennedyEditor-in-Chief

ocarina remake

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  • Primary Subject: Zelda Ocarina of Time Remake vs. GTA 6 Release
  • Key Update: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake's potential release date is being analyzed against Grand Theft Auto 6's launch.
  • Status: Analysis
  • Last Verified: 2026-06-09
  • Quick Answer: This article analyzes the strategic implications of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake potentially releasing in the same window as Grand Theft Auto 6.

The star of the heavily stacked Nintendo Direct today was clearly The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time Remake. While the show revealed the majority of what we can expect from Nintendo through 2026 to 2027, all eyes were on a glimpse at everyone's favorite green tunic-wearing hero at the closing of the show.

Nintendo’s Ocarina remake has been heavily rumored for many years; however, fans have grown doubtful of its existence as time has rolled on, and not a breath of it has even been hinted at by Nintendo. There has already been a remake of the highest-rated game Metacritic has ever seen, for the 3DS, back in 2011. I had personally hoped for a port of that version, as for me, that would have been better than nothing, and yet here we are with a full-fat remake of the game and a tentative 2026 release date slapped at the end of the teaser.

Why tentative, do you ask, since the title of this article involves Zelda going head-to-head with Rockstar’s behemoth GTA? Read on, fellow Zelda fans, and you will find out.

Text: "THE LEGEND OF ZELDA OCARINA OF TIME" with a shield and sword graphic.
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Credit: Nintend

The teaser revealed very little about the remake, other than the fact that it isn't, thankfully, chibi-fied. I had worried that, as rumors amassed ahead of Ocarina’s reveal, it would be given a chibi makeover ala Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Even though we only saw the tiniest amount of character model with Link lying in his bed from the start of the game, we could see it was not handed the same fate, and has an art style more akin to Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess.

Questions still remain for the title, such as: Will this be a single game? Talk and chatter online suggest Nintendo may take a leaf out of Square Enix's book and break the story into separate titles, as seen with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, using the 7-year time skip between Child and Adult Link as a natural narrative split. Personally, I think they will keep it as one game, but that depends on the ambition and scope of the Ocarina remake, as we haven’t seen anything towards either yet.

The other big question is: Will it even release in 2026? Now, they did slap a 2026 date at the end of the trailer, but that is far from confirmation of a solidified release date; it's barely even a window. I may be wrong here, but not adding Fall or Winter suggests there isn’t enough confidence the game will be ready this year. Again, I may be wrong, and I hope I am. Without a traditional, mainline Pokémon RPG to anchor the holiday season this year, Nintendo NEEDS a banger hit at the tail end of 2026 to keep shifting hardware units through the holidays.

So with that in mind, it would seem that this year's holiday title for Nintendo is indeed going to be the Ocarina remake. But that then raises another question: Which month will the Ocarina remake release?

A small character with blonde hair is sleeping on a bed made of straw inside a dark, cozy space, surrounded by glowing green lights.
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Credit: Nintendo

Nintendo has more or less stuck to a tried and tested formula in the first year of the Switch 2: one major Nintendo exclusive per month. Of course, there are times when more than one big title releases in the same month, but stick with me here. This strategy ensures that each of their titles has time to shine before they move to the next release. Take a look:

Now, looking at this year, all that remains ‘open’ for a huge first-party game is three months: August, November, and December. We can almost definitely rule out August as it's way too soon for a title that has only shown a small teaser and not even given a window for launch, just the year. This leaves us with two options: November and December 2026.

December may jump out as the obvious choice. Holiday month, lots of kids looking to buy a new console, and as of now, free from other major first-party Nintendo games. Sounds like an easy win, right? Slow your roll there, cowboy; we need to look at that little game called Grand Theft Auto 6, which has locked in its release date for November 19, 2026.

Jason and Lucia sitting in front of the car in GTA 6
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Credit: Rockstar

GTA 6 has been a victim of several delays. Rockstar does not need to rush this game out, as Take-Two has given them the freedom to delay and polish their upcoming moneymaker, but as of writing, they are locked in tight with that late Autumn launch. The reason that could jeopardize Ocarina sales in December is that kids, teenagers (and adults) around the world will hope to wake on December 25 to find GTA in their stockings. The game is poised to break sales records left and right, with other AAA publishers actively fleeing the entire holiday quarter to avoid being caught in the blast radius.

So with that said, what are Nintendo’s options? Sure, they could somehow get this game out in August, but the end of the Summer is a weird time for a milestone launch, with schools reopening and holidays wrapping up. December seems like a risky option, with the threat of losing momentum to GTA, which launches the month before. This really puts Ocarina in a put-up-or-shut-up situation. Either Ocarina launches alongside GTA 6 for an unprecedented head-to-head battle, or it gets pushed to 2027.

"Only Resi 4 or Ocarina could take on GTA comfortably."

I said that earlier in the day, and I stand by it. I do not think Nintendo is going to back down to Rockstar. GTA 6 is launching on PS5 and Xbox Series platforms, leaving the Switch 2 completely out of the picture. Releasing Ocarina in November would be such a baller move that I genuinely want them to do it. The headlines alone, ‘Zelda vs. GTA,’ would generate better natural publicity than marketing money could ever buy. It protects Nintendo's turf during a month where they would otherwise risk losing consumer share to the competing platforms.

When we do find out the release date of the Ocarina remake, there will be far more scrutiny than usual. A remake of the best-reviewed game of all time? Fans will be praying they do it as much justice as Capcom did for Resident Evil. I will be praying that it lives up to the legacy, as remaking any fan favorite, never mind a gaming legend, is a risky move. How else could Nintendo double down on the confidence of an IP that has survived generations? By releasing The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time Remake on the exact same day as GTA 6.

Whatever date the game ends up settling on, I will be there day one for sure.

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