“I would 100% prioritize [GTA], and now I don’t have to”: Ex-Nintendo marketing lead says “thank god” the Zelda Ocarina of Time remake is dodging GTA 6, because even she’d pick Rockstar

The collective industry is doing its darnedest to avoid GTA 6 this November, and that includes Nintendo. Even The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is avoiding Rockstar’s latest blockbuster, and a former marketing lead from the house of Mario believes this is the smartest course of action.

Indeed, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be fully playable on November 19, while Ocarina of Time is coming to the Switch 2 slightly beforehand, on November 5. That’s two whole weeks of time for Zelda fans to dive into the long-awaited redux before moving over the Leonida, should they desire.

“I think it’s great. Thank God,” Krysta Yang, former PR manager for Nintendo of America who now co-hosts Kit and Krysta on YouTube, says of Ocarina of Time’s launch date. “If it happened, where this was on the same day as GTA, and I saw that this was a faithful remake, I would be playing GTA.”

There are definitely a lot that’d agree with her, for whatever reason, but no doubt plenty who would go the other way and get straight into gathering the Triforce again. Mercifully, Nintendo made sure this wasn’t a hard choice, and provided breathing room for players who are down for both.

“I would 100% prioritize [GTA], and now I don’t have to,” she adds. “Now I can finish this game before it comes out.”

She makes a strong point because comparatively, Ocarina of Time is a much shorter game than we can expect GTA 6 to be. In terms of scope and narrative, two weeks is ample time to get through it if you’re playing regularly. Placing it at the start of the month is a savvy move by Nintendo, who can then sidestep the Rockstar circus entirely and watch the sales roll in over Christmas.

Nintendo has quietly updated the Zelda timeline, and somehow the Ocarina of Time remake has made it even more complicated.

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.