Using Nintendo Today to share its Zelda news is a flex of Nintendo's growing brand power.
The release date for the live-action Legend of Zelda movie has just been revealed. Nintendo shared that the upcoming film will hit theatres in roughly two years from now, arriving on March 27, 2027.
The way in which Nintendo shared news of this release date is rather notable however.
For the past several years, the company has made use of its sizeable following on social media as a means to get word out about its new products — with a particular focus on its Twitter (X) audience. Nintendo's various Twitter accounts, which have several million followers, have been used to share a wide variety of updates, including trailers, pre-order information, and Nintendo Direct details. The company has also used these Twitter pages as a means to share information first-hand, announcing things such as the OLED Switch, Mario Kart Tour, and the SNES Classic Edition directly on their Twitter pages. It's been a longstanding way to get juicy, official details straight from the company.
However, today that's changed.
During a recent Nintendo Direct, Shigeru Miyamoto announced a new initiative by way of 'Nintendo Today' — an Android and iOS app designed to bring daily Nintendo tidbits and information to users.
Ever since the ownership change at Twitter a few years ago, many started to look elsewhere for social media alternatives. This search for a substitute to Twitter, since rebadged as X, significantly picked up pace when infamous Internet attention seeker Musk did an objectionable salute at Trump's inauguration. Since that idiotic display, some brands have fled the site altogether — whereas others have either toned down their usage or begun experimenting with alternatives — both Xbox and PlayStation now have accounts on the (increasingly good) Bluesky, for example.
Chris Brandrick
Yet, up to this point Nintendo has continued to use X. They did not, and have not signed up for Bluesky, Mastodon or Meta's Threads. But now we know why.
They've been quietly working on a solution to avoid the often messy nature of playing in someone else's playground: Nintendo Today is just that. By having their very own dedicated app to share these bite-sized news updates, Nintendo can skirt any political awkwardness or nonsense which may arise in the walled-gardens of Musk and Mark. Nintendo's new app provides a way to share news directly, on their terms, in their app. It's a uniquely Nintendo solution to the problem, but one that avoids them having to jump from one social network to the next in order to get their message out.
It's a solution that isn't without risk of course. The adage of marketing is to go where your audience is, but instead Nintendo is now asking users to come to them.
Nintendo testing their PR strength
The Nintendo Today app launched yesterday, and now, just a day later Nintendo has decided to truly test its new solution. Sharing word of the release date for its first ever Zelda film is big news — and doing so on a new, niche (by-comparison) app is a solid way to test if this app will work as intended for getting Nintendo's marketing messages out to its fans and beyond.
The result? I'd say it's a positive one for them. Within minutes of posting the Zelda news on the Nintendo Today app it was being widely shared across the broader internet — be that on X, Reddit, or via more traditional media such as at The Hollywood Reporter.
Ryan Gajewski
As Abram Buehner of Lost in Cult noted over on Bluesky, it's something of a real flex of Nintendo's growing brand power: "to be able to drop news this consequential for two different entertainment industries on a brand-new niche app".
Nintendo will continue to share some things on their various X accounts, but this test of its possible reach in a potential post-Twitter world via Nintendo Today has got to be an encouraging sign for the teams at Nintendo PR.
So, does Nintendo really need Twitter if they can share news elsewhere and have others amplify it in spaces they may no longer want to occupy?
