Nintendo Expands Its Anniversary Strategy for Major Franchises

Nintendo has publicly said it underestimated how many people would care about the Zelda 40th anniversary, which helps explain why you haven't seen much merchandise tied to it. That could be about to change. The company seems to be lining up something much bigger for the milestones still ahead, and Nintendo anniversaries are starting to feel less like a side note and more like part of a plan.

Kirby's 35th anniversary arrives next year, making it a natural moment for Nintendo to push further. It could be the first sign of a bigger approach. By the time Mario and Zelda reach their 45th birthdays, you should expect even larger announcements, because this year showed everyone that fans love anniversaries about as much as Nintendo loves money. There's plenty to enjoy about it all.

These celebrations bring the Nintendo community together, whether you're a Mario, Zelda, or Kirby fan.

Nintendo anniversaries give everyone a reason to get excited at the same moment, and that feeling is hard to beat. You also know some of your favorite games will likely return as re-releases or brand-new versions, which is a great bonus. With the Zelda 40th anniversary only just getting started, you can count on a full year of announcements still to come, and that's something to look forward to.

When Mario's 40th anniversary came around, there was a lot of debate over whether it was a success or a letdown. Based on the announcements alone, it delivered more than Mario's 35th did, which says something about where things are headed. The pattern suggests Nintendo anniversaries will keep getting bigger, one milestone after another, until one is so huge you'd call it the greatest anniversary ever.

That is how video game celebrations ought to work. Picture the 50th anniversary of a single Nintendo franchise, only about ten years away, and it's hard to guess what Nintendo will have in store. Take Mario as an example. By the time he reaches 50, you could be looking at ten big Mario games released to celebrate those years, and that alone would be something to watch.

The other route is a string of 3D Mario games, beginning with the next one, which you can hope to see in 2027. That would be just as interesting. One thing worth saying about Mario's 40th anniversary is that the next 3D Mario should have launched during it, since that would have made perfect sense. But the Switch 2 had just come out, and Nintendo's plan seems to have been to ship one major game per year.

Mario Kart World was that game, so it covered 2025.

For 2026, the big game was most likely Ocarina of Time. As for 2027, it's hard to say what Nintendo has in mind. If a 3D Mario shows up, it won't fit the one-big-game-per-year pattern very neatly, so the plan isn't clear yet. Anniversaries are still fascinating, though, and they explain why consoles have been in short supply.

Nintendo didn't anticipate everyone would say they needed the 40th-anniversary console, the game, and the item with the cool cover, all of it. Now that it knows, it will almost certainly adjust. That makes Kirby's 35th anniversary a good test of how it handles the demand. Everyone loves Kirby, after all. Even if a poll offers a silly option like Fall Kirby, people will pick it simply because Kirby is in the name.

The hold these characters have on people is one of the best parts of the whole phenomenon. Pick your favorite Nintendo character, and you'll see that you really did end up with something special from the company. It's also why Nintendo anniversaries land so well with fans of every series. Metroid shows the other side of this.

It didn't get an official anniversary showcase, probably because Nintendo doesn't have the time to sit down and list out what each franchise is getting. Instead, Metroid fans received a shadow drop in the form of Metroid Ravenous, and it was an incredible surprise. If you missed it, this is Metroid's anniversary year, so Nintendo slipped out a present without any warning. That's a pretty great way to mark it.

As some of these series grow and reach wider audiences, you'll probably start to see massive anniversaries for them, too.

Right now, the core group is the big four, or the big five if you prefer: Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Kirby, and a catch-all slot for random picks. That last slot is where a series like the one above sits, and it could also be where Animal Crossing lands, since there are still roughly two and a half months left this year. It might show up on the GameCube app, either as part of an anniversary push or simply because the GameCube turns 25 this year.

That's a cool idea. You still aren't seeing Mario Kart: Double Dash!! in that lineup, but the point stands. Nintendo's plan for celebrating its franchises, products, and hardware has only just begun, mostly because it didn't know how big the reaction would be. You'd have expected Mario to draw the biggest crowd, but Zelda is pulling in more interest.

Nintendo is clearly paying attention, and the thinking seems to be that anything released around an anniversary will find buyers, whether it’s a game, a feature, or an item fans have waited years to own. The Zelda 40th anniversary Switch 2 is a good example. It's a neat piece of hardware, and it probably led to a few impulse buys. Overall, it's an interesting direction.

You also have to consider the physical side. Nintendo keeps tying these milestones to collections and items you can actually hold, and half the time you end up with something connected to that specific anniversary. It turns into a keepsake that stays in your collection forever, which is a big part of the appeal. That's another reason Nintendo anniversaries keep drawing people in.

All in all, Nintendo’s anniversary pushes are off to a good start, and they keep growing over the years.

What if Nintendo brought one of those mini consoles to America too, like the little orange GameCube that came out in Japan? You could hook it up to the TV and play GameCube games again. That would be fantastic. It doesn't look likely, though, because the year is almost over and there have been no announcements like that. It still would have been a nice touch.

Looking ahead, you can expect Nintendo to follow the same approach as other franchises get bigger. The company will step up and say it has your anniversary covered, with a big gift and something you'll enjoy. Everyone will jump out of their seats and get ready to send Nintendo their money, and that may be one of the main reasons the company does anything with anniversaries in the first place. Even so, it's a fun trend to follow.

Nintendo anniversaries are heading toward bigger things, and you can already see the path. Look at what you got for the 35th anniversary: Skyward Sword HD, some controllers, and a Game & Watch, and that was pretty much it. For the 40th, you got an entire Switch 2 and a Zelda remake. That's a huge jump in a short time. If you follow Nintendo anniversaries closely, the direction is hard to miss.

Each milestone brings more announcements than the last, and Nintendo anniversaries have become a reason for fans to rally around their favorite series. The Zelda 40th anniversary showed how much demand there is, Mario's 40th anniversary gave it plenty to think about, and Kirby's 35th anniversary next year will show how far it's willing to go with a smaller franchise.

Nintendo anniversaries will probably only get larger from here, and the Switch 2 era looks like the point where that starts to show. Whatever Nintendo has planned, these celebrations aren't going away, and you'll likely see more of them each year.