The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is almost upon us, and while Nintendo has yet to make an official announcement about when the Switch 2 exclusive goes live on the eShop, based on previous release times for the company’s big games, we know what to expect.
Ocarina of Time is expected to launch at midnight local time globally on November 5, which means that yes, the good old New Zealand trick applies if you really want to get ahead of the game (if you’re in North America, a full day early!).
But it’s worth noting that in North America, we’re talking about midnight in the eastern most time zone. So, Zelda goes live at 12am ET on November 5, but 9pm PT on November 4. Make sure you’ve got enough space on your Switch 2; The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake weighs in at 24.5 GB.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake global release times:
- Los Angeles: 9pm PST (November 4)
- Denver (Mountain): 10pm MST (November 4)
- Chicago (Central): 11pm CST (November 4)
- New York: 12am EST (November 5)
- Mexico City: 12am CST (November 5)
- Brazil: 12am BRT (November 5)
- London: 12am GMT (November 5)
- Beijing: 12am CST (November 5)
- Seoul: 12am KST (November 5)
- Tokyo: 12am JST (November 5)
- Melbourne: 12am AEST (November 5)
As you can see, you can play Ocarina of Time early if you link your Nintendo Account to another region, or create a new account. This process will be familiar to a number of Switch and Switch 2 owners who have already made new accounts just for moments like this.
There are other things you’ll need to bear in mind if you’re doing the New Zealand trick. You’ll need a New Zealand credit card or eShop cards to add funds to your New Zealand Nintendo Account. And if you do that you’ll end up paying over the odds for Ocarina of Time, relative to how much it would cost in USD. So, you’ll need to really, really want to play a day early to fuss over the New Zealand trick.
Nintendo has also announced in-store events at both Nintendo San Francisco and Nintendo New York, if you fancy an old-school midnight launch celebration with fans.
As Nintendo has pulled back the curtain on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, we’ve begun to get a better understanding of how this Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive will look and feel to play. IGN has already got you covered with an extensive hands-on preview, as well as a roundup of all the changes we’ve noticed so far compared to the N64 masterpiece.
While you wait for the game to come out, check out a special episode of Nintendo Voice Chat where we dive deeper into our Zelda preview. Meanwhile, we finally have confirmation of who actually developed the Ocarina of Time remake.