Twenty-three million consoles in a year, and Nintendo’s message is: don’t get comfortable, we’re just warming up.
The Switch 2 marked its first anniversary this summer, and Devon Pritchard, president of Nintendo of America, is framing that milestone as a starting line rather than a finish. The company appears to have grand ambitions both for the console and for The Legend of Zelda, which is celebrating 40 years of history.
“We are only at the beginning of the Nintendo Switch 2’s lifecycle,” Pritchard said.
Ocarina of Time is the next big swing
The occasion for all this was the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which launches exclusively for the Switch 2 this November. (If you were waiting for the one first-party title that makes the upgrade feel unavoidable, this is Nintendo’s pitch.)
Pritchard went further than the usual anniversary boilerplate. Here’s the full statement:
“We are at the start of the Nintendo Switch 2’s journey. And this is only the beginning. We’ve already experienced wonderful moments, both from our own titles and from third-party developers bringing their unique visions to the platform. I can’t wait to see what this system will be capable of in the future and what our talented developers will create. We are also collaborating with Sony Pictures. We have a film releasing in late April (referring to the Zelda movie). We are all incredibly excited for the movie, as well as for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.”
A movie, a remake and a 40th birthday
Read that again and the shape of Nintendo’s plan is right there. The Zelda film, made with Sony Pictures, lands in late April. The Ocarina of Time remake arrives in November, exclusive to the new hardware. And the whole thing is wrapped in a 40-year anniversary for the series.
That’s a lot of Zelda pointed at one console in a short window, and it tells you where Nintendo thinks the Switch 2’s second year gets won.
The numbers behind the confidence
The swagger isn’t unearned. The Switch 2 launched in June 2025 and quickly became the fastest-selling console in Nintendo's history, surpassing 23 million sales within 2026.
So when Pritchard says she can’t wait to see what the system will be capable of, she’s talking from the top of a very tall pile of hardware.
Forty years after the first Zelda, Nintendo is betting the Switch 2’s best year is the one that hasn’t started yet, and it’s leading with Link.
