It’s a big year for Nintendo of America — and it’s about to get bigger.
On the heels of the one-year anniversary for the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 gaming console and amid the 40th anniversary celebrations for “The Legend of Zelda” franchise, Nintendo of America president and COO Devon Pritchard warns fans this is just the start of the video game giant’s multiyear master IP plan.
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“We’re working with Sony Pictures. We are going to have a movie come out in the end of April,” Pritchard told Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton during a panel at the Variety Entertainment & Technology Summit presented by EY on Thursday. “We’re very excited about that. And ‘The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.'”
Pritchard is referring to the upcoming “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” remake coming to Switch 2 in November, which will be out ahead of the release of “The Legend of Zelda” live-action film next spring. That game is one of the most anticipated releases by Switch 2 fans, but it’s far from the last for this console.
“We’re at the beginning of Nintendo Switch 2,” Pritchard said. “This is just beginning and we’ve already had some really wonderful experiences, both ours and third party come to the table and I can’t wait to see what the system is going to do and what our talented developers will bring to the table. But again, those partnerships and touchpoints with companies like Sony and Sony Pictures around how we can bring those experiences more broadly to not only our current players and fans but to new ones, I think that’s one of the most exciting things for us over the next few years”
While Nintendo has no shortage of dedicated fans, Pritchard said that the Japan-based company is just as concerned about the surplus of content problem facing all media companies these days. But Nintendo is trying to attack that problem with a different solution than its competitors.
“There are more channels for content than ever before,” Pritchard said. “Content is available 24/7. So I think you hear a lot of times, people saying, we are competing for consumers’ time and I think what’s unique is that Nintendo is focused instead on building experiences that create relationships that last generations and I think that’s a different kind of focus for us. But that really is where we put our time and our energy is, how do we create those fun experiences? And that becomes the test: is something fun? It sounds simple, of course it’s not.”
