Who owns The Legend of Zelda?
The Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo (Japan, TSE: 7974).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Nintendo Co., Ltd. Annual Report 2025, 27 June 2025. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Nintendo Co., Ltd. reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇯🇵 Japan, Kyoto
- Origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- Founded
- 1986
- Category
- Internet & digital › Platforms & devices › Video games
- Parent ticker
- TSE: 7974
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda was inspired by its creator's childhood explorations of caves and forests near Kyoto, and its 2017 instalment Breath of the Wild reset expectations for open-world design across the industry. Nintendo owns it outright, and the series has never been licensed to another publisher, which is why it appears only on the company's own hardware.
Ownership timeline of The Legend of Zelda
Where The Legend of Zelda sits in Nintendo
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Nintendo ownership tree →
See the full Nintendo brand portfolio (14) →
Other brands owned by Nintendo
Nintendo controls 14 brands on Brandtree, 5 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
- Animal Crossing (2001)
- Nintendo Switch (2017)
- Pokémon (games) (1996)
- Super Mario (1985)
Founded in the 1980s
- Donkey Kong (1981)
Other brands in video games, and who owns them
The 69 brands in video games on Brandtree belong to 18 owners. The largest is Take-Two, with 7; Nintendo has 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Fantasy Westward Journey | NetEase | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong |
| 2K | Take-Two | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Apex Legends | EA | 🇺🇸 United States |
| eFootball | Konami | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Bingo Blitz | Playtika | 🇮🇱 Israel |
| Mega Man | Capcom | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Football Manager | Sega Sammy | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Clash of Clans | Tencent | 🇨🇳 China |
About the owner: Nintendo
Nintendo is a publicly listed company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, founded in 1889. Brandtree records 14 brands under its control, and it is listed as TSE: 7974.
Nintendo was founded in Kyoto in 1889 making handmade playing cards and did not enter video games until the 1970s. It owns its characters outright rather than licensing them in, which is why they appear across films, theme parks and merchandise without any negotiation.
🇯🇵 The Legend of Zelda and other Japanese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 448 brands that began in Japan. 22 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; The Legend of Zelda is not one of them.
- ABEMA — CyberAgent 🇯🇵
- Acquire — Kadokawa 🇯🇵
- Dragon Quest — Square Enix 🇯🇵
- Elden Ring — Bandai Namco 🇯🇵
- Ikyu.com — LY Corporation 🇯🇵
- Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyakyu — Konami 🇯🇵
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of The Legend of Zelda?
The parent company of The Legend of Zelda is Nintendo, a publicly listed company headquartered in Japan.
Is The Legend of Zelda Japanese?
Yes. The Legend of Zelda originated in Japan in 1986 and its owner, Nintendo, is also headquartered in Japan.
Is The Legend of Zelda still owned by Nintendo?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, The Legend of Zelda is still owned by Nintendo. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Nintendo Co., Ltd. Annual Report 2025 — Nintendo Co., Ltd., Annual report, published 27 June 2025; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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