Published Sep 14, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT
Tom Wilson is a Gaming Features Writer at Screen Rant. Over the past five years, Tom has worked as the Editor-in-Chief at The Game Crater, as a Staff Writer for GamingIntel, a List Writer at TheGamer, and, of course, as a Senior Writer at ScreenRant. Tom has experience writing reviews, guides, news, and features, and has been responsible for teams of writers, training them and editing their work.
Tom graduated with a Masters in Multimedia Journalism, and has since gone on to build up his portfolio of games journalism work.
The Legend of Zelda 40th anniversary celebrations are well and truly in their stride, with the recent dedicated Nintendo Direct kicking things off in style. Ocarina of Time's remake received a glossy new gameplay trailer that finally showcased exactly what it was tweaking, a handful of new pieces of merchandise themed around the celebrations were announced, and fans got a new look at the upcoming movie. Suffice it to say, now is a very good time to be a Legend of Zelda fan, especially one with an abundance of shelf space and a penchant for merchandise.
However, for those who don't want to break the bank by buying the brand-new Zelda 40th anniversary releases, there are a few free downloads being handed out as part of the celebrations. These free downloads are available to absolutely everyone and are easily accessible, with no shenanigans or unexpected purchases required in order to get them. Nintendo is truly giving away a handful of free goodies to everyone, from the biggest Zelda enthusiasts to those completely new to the series.
It isn't uncommon for Nintendo to hand out free gifts as part of ongoing anniversary celebrations. We've seen this as recently as Pokémon's ongoing 30th anniversary, for which The Pokémon Company (of which Nintendo is a part) handed out free downloads to fans. So, it shouldn't be all that surprising to see Nintendo do the same for Zelda's biggest anniversary yet. Of course, this won't include any full games, as fun as that would be. However, there are some impressive free Zelda goodies being given to fans as part of the celebration, and these are still worth paying attention to.
Among the aforementioned free downloads are the recently released Zelda collectible cards and animations on the Nintendo Today app. These shouldn't be confused with the official Legend of Zelda TCG that has been released as part of the 40th anniversary event, as the Nintendo Today app downloads are exclusively digital. However, that doesn't diminish just how cool they are, with users of the free app able to download a different collectible card each day.
Alongside the card, users will be able to complete a short quiz which, if answered correctly, will unlock even more digital goods, including any missed collectible cards from previous days and exclusive wallpapers. In addition to the collectible cards, there are the aforementioned animations. These are new animated themes for the in-app calendar, which are based on The Legend of Zelda series, and are available to anyone who downloads the app.
It's great to see Nintendo make the most of the Nintendo Today app, as well as offer users even more ways to interact with it. If you don't already have the app, it doesn't cost anything to download or feature any in-app purchases. So, you really don't have to do anything to get these 40th anniversary free downloads other than have an affinity for Zelda or the few seconds it'll take to collect them. Fans can likely expect more free Legend of Zelda downloads like these in the future as Nintendo continues to celebrate the game's momentous 40th anniversary.
First Game The Legend of Zelda
Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka
Movie(s) The Legend of Zelda (Live-Action)
TV Show(s) The Legend of Zelda
First TV Show The Legend of Zelda
English (US) ·