Bill van Zyll, Vice President and General Manager for Nintendo in Latin America, has said that while The Legend of Zelda franchise ia a “global phenomenon” the company underestimated demand for the 40th anniversary products. The Zelda-themed Nintendo Switch 2 console and Pro Controller drew huge queues on the official Nintendo store and quickly sold out. Bill van Zyll says that a restock is on its way though he couldn’t give a date as to when customers who missed out while be able to get hold of the products. Here’s what he said:
“Well, if we expected it, we wouldn’t be in that situation, right? At least not to this extent. I will tell you that it’s a global phenomenon. We have this issue absolutely everywhere. We apologize for that. That certainly is not the intent. We underestimated how well it would be received. And there’s certainly some markets that stand out.
The United States did extremely well as well. It’s a global phenomenon where they’re running out of product. The pre-sales are hitting their max, and certainly that’s what happened to us in Brazil.
We are working on replenishments of the special hardware and the software, but it’ll take a little bit of time. So I’m going to use this on you now: please be patient. But yeah, to answer your question, it caught us by surprise. We expected a positive response, but the magnitude, I mean, it’s amazing.
Yes (a Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition Switch 2 restock is coming). I can’t tell you dates right now. We’re working on it. I can’t tell you quantities right now. Again, all being worked on, but that is the plan that we have right now – the special controller, the hardware, the software.”
You know what would be a phenomenon? A new Zelda game. Maybe even one that isn’t a remake.
It’s barely been two years since the last new Zelda game..
always someone that needs to cry about something. last new zelda game was only 2 years ago…
and before that 1 year
dumb people are impossible to please
We have actually had 2 mainline Zelda games in the past 3 years, I feel like I am not ready for a new mainline one. Stuff like this remake and hyrule warriors age of imprisonment make me very happy as a Zelda fan, like we are eating good right now.
We just got Tears of the Kingdom, Echoes of Wisdom and Age of Imprisonment.
Always someone to complain: first, this is a full remake that we never had for one of the most beloved Zelda games.
Second, we had a mainline Zelda game in 2023 and Echoes of the Wisdom just 2 years ago, and I am sure Nintendo is working on the next one, so – they keep the furnace running and games are released in a steady pipeline and the best of it: with quality games. Nothing to complain here. Other developers are struggling
I preordered switch 2 zelda edition, pro controller, game oot and amiibos too. I hope most i obtain before december 2026.
Actually it’s really only North America that didn’t get a lot of preorder items. Ahem.
Lol why do Americans live in this bubble like they’re the only country on the planet? No there were huge shortages in Europe as well. Especially in the UK.
I….. I underestimated Nintendo’s ability to understand it’s own product. Why do all three major gaming companies have this problem? Fire all the executives at every company, they are worthless every time it matters. Every single time
Sooo… what exactly are you expecting to happen once all the executives are fired? Hire new executives who’ll end up doing the exact same thing? Or leave the companies completely leaderless until they inevitably collapse, meaning no more games will be made?
Here’s some friendly advice; just because something sounded smart in your head, doesn’t mean it is in reality. :)
Executive who thinks they offer any value to the company detected in the chat
Actually no. The Switch 2 launch was exceptionally well stocked compared to recent hardware launches despite also being one of the fastest selling (if not the fastest) ever. The only country you’d have had major problems getting it in is Japan, and that’s mostly because they did the super-cheap price.