Zelda’s 40th Switch 2 Ships Without a Zelda Game

Nintendo’s Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 is $519.99, ships with no game, and already shows as sold out. The special hardware goes on sale Thursday, October 29, 2026.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, remade for Switch 2, follows on November 5, seven days later, as its own purchase. Nintendo of America posted the hardware on September 8 during a Zelda 40th Direct.

🙌 A Nintendo Switch 2 specially designed for The Legend of #Zelda 40th Anniversary is coming Oct 29!

Plus, a special Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller and carrying case are also releasing Oct 29. 👀 #NintendoDirect pic.twitter.com/ZKMniD8DEO

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 8, 2026

What the $519.99 Zelda Switch 2 Includes

The US listing is blunt about the software. Nintendo’s product page says the system “features a design inspired by the Legend of Zelda series, including a symbol of the legendary Triforce on the front of the dock,” then adds the line that matters for anyone expecting a cartridge: “(Game not included.)”

The finish is the whole pitch. The dock is black and gold with a gold Triforce on the face. Patterns from the series run across the back of the tablet and the dock. The included green and gold Joy-Con 2 controllers use the classic palette, with an interlocking triangle pattern and a gold Triforce low on the left grip.

WHAT IS IN THE BOX

• The tablet: A Nintendo Switch 2 system with 256GB of internal storage, some of it reserved by the OS, plus a 7.9-inch 1080p screen.
• The dock kit: The matching dock, an AC adapter, a USB-C charging cable, and an Ultra High Speed HDMI cable for TV play at up to 4K in supported games.
• The controllers: Joy-Con 2 (L) and (R) in green and gold, a Joy-Con 2 grip, and two Joy-Con 2 straps.

Those are the same pieces a standard Switch 2 already ships with. The anniversary model does not add extra storage, a different screen, or a download code. It is a painted system at a painted price, and the first special Switch 2 Nintendo has put on a shelf.

$20 Over the New $499.99 Switch 2

The surcharge looks small until you stack it on the hike Nintendo already posted. On May 7, 2026, Nintendo of America said it would raise the US Switch 2 from $449.99 to $499.99 on September 1, citing “various changes in market conditions.” The Zelda unit arrived a week after that floor moved, at $20 above the new list.

Japan did the same math with a smaller gap. Nintendo Co., Ltd. priced the Japanese-language anniversary system at 62,980 yen including tax, 3,000 yen over the 59,980 yen Japanese-language Switch 2 that has been in force since May 25, 2026. The English news release states the Japan unit is a Japanese-language system only.

SWITCH 2 PRICES NEXT TO THE ZELDA SKU

Twenty dollars is a modest collector tax on paper. It is also a tax on hardware that already climbed $50 in the United States this month, and it still does not buy Ocarina of Time, a Young Link figure, or even a theme park ticket. The green plastic is the product.

Japan’s Release Note Leaves the Cartridge Out

Kyoto did not bury the omission. Nintendo Co., Ltd. put it in the September 8, 2026 news release twice, once in the lead and once in the spec table, under president Shuntaro Furukawa’s name.

This product does not come with a game.

Nintendo Co., Ltd., September 8, 2026 news release

The same sentence sits on the Pro Controller and the carrying case. Nintendo’s English release even does not come with a game as a standing note on every SKU in the set. The company is not confusing anyone who reads past the Triforce.

That is a change from the last time Nintendo used Ocarina of Time as anniversary bait. In November 2011, for the series’ 25th year, Nintendo of Europe sold a limited black-and-gold 3DS that came bundled with Ocarina of Time 3D. A later gold 3DS XL shipped with A Link Between Worlds as a digital extra, at $219 against a $199 standard XL. The Tears of the Kingdom OLED later reversed the habit and left the cartridge out. The 40th-anniversary Switch 2 follows that later script: celebrate the series on the shell, sell the game on a second receipt.

November 5 Is the Ocarina Date

The software Nintendo is actually marking 40 years with is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Switch 2, a new build Nintendo’s store says is built from the ground up for the hardware. Digital preorders are $59.99 on that page. The physical cartridge is listed at $69.99, and the first print uses textured foil packaging while that run lasts.

Seven days separate the painted console from the game it is dressed to play. A household that wants the matching set pays $519.99, then $59.99 or $69.99, then waits a week. Nintendo’s own copy describes overhauled visuals, voiced cutscenes, expanded dialogue, and symphonic orchestral music, plus jump, dash, and a modern camera. The download is estimated at 27 GB.

WHAT THE REMAKE ADDS ON THE STORE PAGE

• Presentation: New visuals, voiced cutscenes, more dialogue, and orchestral music on a 27 GB file.
• Controls: Jump, dash, and updated camera movement aimed at first-time players as well as veterans.
• Zelda Notes: A Switch app companion for daily goals, photo hints, and an ocarina on a phone.
• amiibo extras: Any Legend of Zelda amiibo can be tapped for in-game items; the new Young Link and Young Zelda figures, due in 2027, unlock masks with a retro look.

The companion app and the 2027 figures are the tell. Nintendo built a full 40th-year software event and then parked part of it in another calendar year. The console still ships on October 29 as if the party starts that Thursday. The quest Nintendo is selling starts the Thursday after that.

The Pad, the Case and Two 2027 Amiibo

Accessories follow the same split. The Zelda Switch 2 Pro Controller is $99.99, $10 over the $89.99 standard Switch 2 Pro Controller on Nintendo’s store. A Nintendo Store exclusive adds a display stand with a map of Hyrule for $109.99. Japan lists that stand bundle at 12,980 yen including tax. The carrying case and screen protector is $39.99 in the US and 3,980 yen in Japan, black and gold with a Triforce and green zipper pulls.

Young Link and Young Zelda amiibo are $24.99 each. Nintendo’s Ocarina page says they come in 2027. The US store still let people preorder them on September 8, then marked them sold out with the rest of the pile.

40TH-ANNIVERSARY ADD-ONS

Buy the console, the pad, the case, digital Ocarina, and both figures and the anniversary receipt is $769.94 before tax, spread across two years. Skip the stand and the figures and it is still $719.96 if you want the matching plastic on day one plus the game a week later. Nintendo did not hide any of those prices. It also did not put them in one box.

Sold Out at Nintendo, Target and Best Buy

The Direct ended on September 8. By September 9 the US Nintendo Store listed the console as sold out, with a note to check back soon. Target’s product page said preorders had sold out and told shoppers to look again on the street date. Best Buy, Amazon, and GameStop listings sat in the same empty state, GameStop at $519.99 and “Currently Unavailable.”

The $519.99 tag without a cartridge is the complaint that stuck. Shoppers who already own a Switch 2 treated the special shell as skippable. People who wanted that shell watched units disappear between the cart and the address form. Nintendo did not publish a production number, so nobody shopping that night could tell a short first wave from a hard cap.

THE SELLOUT CLOCK

1. September 8, 2026: Nintendo airs a Zelda 40th Direct, posts the Switch 2, Pro Controller, and case for October 29, and opens Ocarina preorders for November 5.
2. September 8, 2026: US Nintendo Store, Target, Best Buy, and other chains put the $519.99 console up; carts start failing while checkout is still open.
3. September 9, 2026: Nintendo Store, Target, Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop show the console sold out or unavailable; the $99.99 pad, $109.99 stand bundle, $39.99 case, and both $24.99 amiibo are gone on Nintendo’s own store in the US.

Flip listings followed the Direct the same night, which is the usual tax on a Nintendo special edition with a Triforce on it. Asking prices on those listings are not a second official MSRP. They are what happens when a $20 paint job is treated as a limited drop and the company prints “check back soon” instead of a restock date.

WHAT WE KNOW

• Street date: The console, pad, and case are dated October 29, 2026; Ocarina of Time is dated November 5, 2026.
• Official list: $519.99 for the US system, $99.99 or $109.99 for the pad, $39.99 for the case, $59.99 digital for the game.
• Retail status on September 9: Major US storefronts, including Nintendo’s, showed the console unavailable for preorder.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• How many units: Nintendo has not said whether the Zelda Switch 2 is a short first wave or a hard limited run.
• When stores refill: Target told buyers to wait until the October 29 street date; Nintendo only asked people to check back soon.
• Foil-cart supply: The first-print textured Ocarina box is described as limited, with no public figure attached.

A restock before October 29 would still leave the game on a later receipt. A restock after November 5 would mean some buyers meet the anniversary console after they have already finished the anniversary game on a standard Switch 2.

Amiibo Masks and a 2027 Movie

Nintendo’s UK 40th-anniversary page stretches the year past the hardware drop. A Legend of Zelda film is listed for cinemas worldwide on April 30, 2027. A 40th-anniversary concert tour is listed for Europe starting in April 2027. The Young Link and Young Zelda amiibo, the figures that hand Ocarina its retro masks, sit in that same later year.

So the object people fought over on September 8 is a $519.99 shell for a quest that starts November 5, with the matching figures and a movie still a season away. Nintendo wrote the missing cartridge into the spec sheet, priced the paint at $20 over a Switch 2 that had just gone up $50, and watched the page sell out anyway. The product page still tells anyone who missed it to check back soon.