Nintendo begins two days of announcements on September 8 with a 30 minute Direct devoted to the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda.
The official Nintendo Direct schedule puts the Zelda presentation at 7 a.m. PT and 10 a.m. ET. A 45 minute Switch 2 Direct follows at the same time on September 9, with Nintendo Treehouse Live continuing afterward with gameplay from selected games shown during the broadcast.
The first show already has several real subjects behind it. Ocarina of Time is confirmed for Switch 2 in 2026. Nintendo has also confirmed that filming has begun on the live action Zelda movie, which is now scheduled for April 30, 2027. On the hardware side, leaked packaging and retailer references point toward a Zelda 40th anniversary Switch 2. That hardware looks credible, but Nintendo has not confirmed it.
The September 9 show has more to settle. Several Switch 2 games still need exact dates, and the console entered September with a new US price of $499.99 instead of $449.99. Nintendo has also told investors that more Switch 2 games are being prepared for the second half of 2026 beyond the titles already announced.
Zelda Gets 30 Minutes on September 8
Nintendo has not published a list of everything planned for the anniversary presentation. The company only says the Direct will contain around 30 minutes of information about The Legend of Zelda at 40.
Ocarina of Time is the obvious starting point because the game already exists on the release calendar. Nintendo announced the Switch 2 version during the June Direct and currently lists it simply as coming in 2026.
Nintendo has not said if this Ocarina of Time should be treated as a remaster, a remake or a much larger reconstruction. The official product page says the Nintendo 64 classic is being reborn exclusively for Switch 2, but price, exact release date and a detailed feature list are still missing.
The original Ocarina of Time launched in 1998 and remains one of the most important titles attached to the Zelda series. It also appears in our look at games that kept players coming back for years.
Nintendo also has a large existing Zelda audience to sell to. Its June 2026 sales data puts Breath of the Wild at 34.06 million copies and Tears of the Kingdom at 22.71 million on the original Switch. A high profile return to Ocarina of Time gives Nintendo a recognizable game for both long term Zelda players and people who started with the newer open world titles.
The Zelda Movie Is Far Enough Along for More Than a Logo
The live action Zelda movie gives the anniversary Direct another concrete subject. Wes Ball is directing, Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad are producing, and Nintendo is financing more than half of the production alongside Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Nintendo told investors in February that filming had already begun. That matters because a September update could now contain footage or production material rather than another date card. The February investor briefing confirms the movie had moved into filming months before the anniversary Direct.
The current worldwide theatrical date is April 30, 2027. Nintendo moved the movie forward from May 7 in May, with Shigeru Miyamoto announcing the change through official Nintendo channels.
There is also a verified Nintendo precedent for using a Direct purely for movie promotion. On March 9, 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie received its own Nintendo Direct for the final trailer. A Zelda movie segment inside a Zelda anniversary show would therefore fit something Nintendo has already done, rather than requiring a new format.
More details about the film are available in our Zelda live action movie guide.
The Zelda Switch 2 Leak Is Credible but Still Unconfirmed
Special anniversary hardware is the biggest leak attached to September 8. Images first spread through the Centro LEAKS account in August and showed retail style packaging for a dark Zelda themed Switch 2, green and gold Joy-Con 2 controllers and a matching Pro Controller.
GameSpot documented the original images, and TechRadar reported that Brazilian Nintendo journalist Felipe Lima said the designs matched hardware he had previously seen.
A second clue appeared shortly before the Direct. French retailer Cdiscount was reported to have published product identifiers for an Ocarina of Time Switch 2 console, a Pro Controller, Joy-Con 2 controllers, the game and a collector edition. The reported console SKU was NINSW2ZELDAOOT, with separate identifiers for the other products.
Multiple retailer references and a second source make the hardware more credible than one unexplained image. Nintendo still has no product page, price or release date for it. The best label right now is credible but unconfirmed, and that is the standard the rest of the article uses.
September 9 Is About Filling the Switch 2 Calendar
The second Direct runs for about 45 minutes and focuses on games coming to Switch 2 this winter. Nintendo Treehouse Live follows with gameplay from selected titles, a detail confirmed on the same official Direct page.
The June Nintendo Direct already established much of the current roadmap. The problem is that several games still sit inside broad 2026 or 2027 windows.
| Game | Current Release Information | What Still Matters |
|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time | 2026 | Exact date, price and scope of the new version |
| Fire Emblem Fortune Weave | September 17, 2026 | Final launch details and post launch plans |
| Nintendo Switch Sports Resort | October 22, 2026 | Bundle launch and longer gameplay |
| The Duskbloods | 2026 | Exact release date |
| Xenoblade Genesis | 2027 | Release window and substantial gameplay |
| Kingdom Hearts IV | 2027 | Exact date and Switch 2 specific details |
The Duskbloods is the most obvious hole among the known 2026 releases. The official Nintendo store still lists it only for 2026. It is developed and published by FromSoftware, supports online battles for up to eight players and is exclusive to Switch 2.
Nintendo also ran a Duskbloods network test campaign in July. That puts the game far enough along that another broad 2026 label would be less useful than a real release date.
Nintendo Has Already Promised More Unannounced Games
New first party announcements are not just fan speculation. Furukawa addressed the software pipeline directly during the May financial results Q and A.
He said Nintendo was working on a variety of new Switch 2 titles, including games outside the biggest franchises, and that additional titles were being prepared for the second half of 2026 on top of the software already announced.
That makes at least one new Nintendo project the most interesting prediction for September 9. It does not make Mario or Metroid specifically likely. Nintendo has not connected either series to the September presentation through a teaser, official announcement or product listing, so naming either one as the expected reveal would be guesswork.
A smaller first party game is just as plausible as a huge franchise announcement because Furukawa specifically said the pipeline was not limited to major titles.
The Switch 2 Price Increase Is About Costs and Protecting Profitability
On September 1, Switch 2 became $50 more expensive in the United States, moving from $449.99 to $499.99. That is an increase of about 11.1 percent.
The short public explanation referred to market conditions. Nintendo gave investors far more detail.
Its May financial briefing said the current forecast includes around 100 billion yen of additional cost pressure from tariffs and rising component prices, with memory chips specifically identified. Furukawa also mentioned exchange rates and oil prices when discussing factors affecting hardware economics.
The memory problem reaches far outside Nintendo. TrendForce reported in July that the DRAM market remained extremely tight and forecast conventional DRAM contract prices to rise another 13 to 18 percent in the third quarter of 2026. NAND Flash prices were expected to rise 10 to 15 percent.
AI infrastructure is part of that pressure. Server deployments and large data centers are consuming more memory capacity, and manufacturers have strong incentives to direct production toward higher value server products. Consumer electronics companies then face a tighter market for the memory used in PCs, phones and game hardware.
Component costs are only one side of the decision. Nintendo also has a reason to protect hardware margins. Its current financial forecast expects net sales to fall 11.4 percent in the fiscal year ending March 2027, but operating profit is forecast to rise 2.7 percent to 370 billion yen.
Nintendo has not said that margin protection was the main reason for the $50 increase, so it would be wrong to present that as fact. The numbers do show why higher component costs matter to management. The company expects lower revenue and still wants operating profit to grow.
Strong hardware demand gives Nintendo more room to make that decision. As of June 30, Switch 2 had sold 23.68 million units worldwide. That already puts it above the lifetime total of Wii U at 13.56 million and GameCube at 21.74 million.
The price increase therefore does not look like a move made because Switch 2 cannot sell. A more convincing reading is that Nintendo is protecting hardware economics at a time when demand remains strong and several important input costs are moving against it.
The New Bundles Show the Price Strategy More Clearly
Nintendo is also changing what buyers get around the $499.99 base price. Two new bundles arrive during the same period.
| Switch 2 Option | US Price | What Is Included | Nintendo Claimed MSRP Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch 2 base system before September 1 | $449.99 | Console | Not applicable |
| Switch 2 base system from September 1 | $499.99 | Console | Not applicable |
| Switch 2 and Mario Kart World bundle | $549.99 | Console, Mario Kart World, 3 months of Nintendo Switch Online | $37.98 |
| Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort bundle | $529.99 | Console, Sports Resort, 3 months of Nintendo Switch Online | $27.98 |
The official Nintendo bundle announcement gives both savings figures and also explains how they are calculated. Nintendo compares the bundle prices with the manufacturer suggested retail prices of the console, game and online membership purchased separately. Its own footnote says actual savings can vary.
That distinction matters because $37.98 is not a guaranteed saving against whatever retailers charge on a given day. It is Nintendo marketing math based on MSRP.
The strategy is still clear. After raising the base console to $499.99, Nintendo is putting software and online access into bundles priced only $30 or $50 higher. A $37.98 paper discount does not reverse the price hike, but it makes the jump from bare hardware to a ready to play package much easier to explain.
Switch 2 Is Already Selling, So September 9 Is About Keeping It Moving
The current installed base changes how the September Direct should be judged. Switch 2 is not a struggling platform looking for its first hit.
By June 30, Nintendo had sold 23.68 million consoles and 58.17 million Switch 2 software units. Mario Kart World alone had reached 15.39 million copies, with Donkey Kong Bananza at 4.78 million and Pokemon Pokopia at 3.68 million.
That is a healthy starting point for year two. The problem is maintaining momentum after the early buyers have already purchased the system and after the US entry price has moved above $500 once tax is added in most states.
Release dates for known games help, but a new first party game would do more. Nintendo already told investors additional software is coming. September 9 is the first obvious place to show part of that hidden lineup.
The holiday calendar outside Nintendo also deserves a lot of attention. GTA 6 is currently scheduled for November 19, putting one of the largest game launches of the year directly inside the holiday buying period.
There is no Switch 2 version. Rockstar lists GTA 6 only for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
The competition is therefore not about choosing which console version to buy. It is about the same household entertainment budget. A player buying a new PS5 or Xbox game, premium edition or another console has less money available for a $499.99 Switch 2 and a separate Nintendo game.
Nintendo does not need a direct GTA competitor. It needs enough exclusive software to make buying Switch 2 during the same holiday period feel worth the extra expense.
Bottom Line
September 8 is built around known Zelda projects. Ocarina of Time needs a date and a clearer explanation of what Nintendo has rebuilt. The movie has reached the filming stage, making footage plausible. Anniversary hardware has enough independent signs behind it to deserve attention, but it remains credible and unconfirmed until Nintendo shows it.
September 9 is less predictable because Nintendo has already acknowledged that part of its second half software lineup remains unannounced. The most useful reveal would not be another date for a game everyone already knows about. It would be one of those projects Furukawa said was still being prepared behind the scenes.
By Wednesday afternoon we should know if Nintendo plans to carry a $499.99 Switch 2 through the holiday season mainly with Zelda nostalgia and games already announced, or if it has a game nobody has seen yet ready to change the conversation.
