Bad news for Zelda fans – Nintendo has announced that Breath of the Wild 2 now won’t hit shelves until spring 2023.
The not-yet-named sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was originally expected to launch this year. However, series producer Eiji Aonuma took to Nintendo’s Twitter to break the news that the upcoming Switch title has been delayed.
“We previously announced that we were aiming for a 2022 release for this game. However, we have decided to extend our development time a bit and change the release to spring 2023. For those of you who have been looking forward to a release this year, we apologise,” said Aonuma in the short video.
While the producer didn’t go into specific detail as to why BOTW 2 has been delayed, he did touch on some of the major changes coming to the game, explaining that the developers are continuing to work hard to make the sequel something special.
“As previously announced, the adventure in this sequel will take place not just on the ground as in the previous game, but also in the skies above. However, the expanded world goes beyond that, and there will be an even wider variety of features you can enjoy, including new encounters and new gameplay elements,” said Aonuma.
“In order to make this game’s experience something special, the entire development team is continuing to work diligently on this game, so please wait a while longer.”
Breath of the Wild 2 is expected to be a direct sequel to the 5-star 2017 game, continuing the story after Link vanquishes Calamity Ganon from the Land of Hyrule.
Nintendo released the below trailer at E3 2021, showcasing some of the new gameplay elements, along with the updated map.
While Breath of the Wild 2 will leave a big gap in the Nintendo Switch line-up in 2022, there are still plenty of games scheduled to come to the hybrid console this year, including Nintendo Switch Sports, Mario Strikers: Battle League and Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.