Summary
AfterThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s win for Best Action/Adventure Game at The Game Awards 2023, as well as Eiji Aonuma’s comments on the future of the franchise, whereZeldagoes from here is anyone’s best guess. BothBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomestablished that the switch to an open-world was an absolute win for the franchise, with both games being two of the best-selling entries in the more than 35 years ofZelda’s history and existing as a substantial shot in the arm for the series as a whole. If there is one thing the nextZeldagame should borrow from its predecessors other than an open world, though, it’s arguably the timing of its release.
That the nextZeldagame will be an open-world adventure similar toTears of the Kingdomis a known quantity, with series producer Eiji Aonuma on record stating that fans should expect the next game in the series to follow in the footsteps of its Nintendo Switch predecessors. What’s less known, though, is when fans can expect the eventual release of the next game in the series. Withthe Nintendo Switch’s successorlikely to release sometime in the next 1-2 years, it’s the perfect time for theZeldafranchise to come full circle and launch with Nintendo’s next hardware, just likeBreath of the Wilddid.
Zelda Games Arriving as Launch Titles for Nintendo Hardware is a Rarity
It might come as a shock to realize thatThe Legend of Zeldafranchise actually only has two entries throughout its entire history that have arrived as launch titles for a new piece of Nintendo hardware. The first is 2006’sThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which was both a launch title for the Nintendo Wii and the firstZeldagame to release as a cross-gen title. Similarly,Breath of the Wild’s arrival in 2017 signaled it as both the first Nintendo game for the new Nintendo Switch and as the last first-party game forthe ill-fated Wii U.
Positioning aZeldagame as a launch title for a console has traditionally been an incredibly strong move on Nintendo’s part, with bothTwilight PrincessandBreath of the Wild’s sales corresponding accordingly.Twilight Princessfar outsoldThe Wind Wakerat a rate of 2-to-1, andBreath of the Wildcurrently stands as the best-selling title inThe Legend of Zeldaseries, with nearly 33 million units sold. Considering thatTears of the Kingdomis on-trackto surpass it, with 19 million units sold in record time, it’s not hard to imagine the nextZeldagame being a surefire sales juggernaut as a launch title for the Switch’s successor.
The Next Zelda Game Doesn’t Necessarily Need to be Tears of the Kingdom’s Follow-Up
Current rumors place the Switch’s successor as arriving sometime either late in 2024 or in 2025, so it begs the question of how theZeldateam could possibly produce aproper follow-up toTears of the Kingdomin a fraction of the time to have it line up with the console’s launch. Maybe instead of having the nextZeldagame be a new mainline entry, it should instead be a remake of an older, beloved title that launches as a hardware showcase for Nintendo’s next piece of hardware.
Remakes are not something foreign to theZeldaseries, with theLink’s Awakeningremake on Switch serving as both an excellent reminder of the joy inherent in “classic"Zeldaand a proof of concept of how great other remakes of 2D titles in the series could be. While the most obvious candidate would be togiveA Link to the Pastthe remake treatment, there’s equal argument to be made for theOraclegames to get a chance to shine. Whatever the case, the next Nintendo console andZeldagame should arrive hand-in-hand.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
