There isn’t a lot of information available on The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 besides the fact that it is currently in development. With only a trailer (and a handful of behind-the-scenes concept art of the trailer), Nintendo fans are still waiting on more news for the next entry in one of the biggest video game franchises of all time. When the company announced the sequel at E3 2019, it gave no release date and didn’t even hint at a possible window.
Still, given Nintendo’s history and everything that is currently known about The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2, it’s fair to have the prediction that the highly anticipated title should be arriving sometime in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch. The game’s release date has been a topic of notable discussion, but there are a few things backing up the idea that it is coming out next year. Even after considering the fact that there were job listings for the new Legend of Zelda game discovered around the time of the game’s announcement, a 2021 release year still seems likely.
In order to fully understand why 2021 is a viable year for the game’s release, a little context regarding the history of the Legend of Zelda franchise is needed. The release dates of previous games in the series can help solidify some sort of idea as to when fans can expect the newest game.
Nintendo’s Pattern of Releasing Zelda Games
In the two decades since the release of The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time on the N64 back in 1998, Nintendo has only had seven non-consecutive years in which it didn’t release a new game in the series. It also developed an average of releasing around two games (usually one for console and one for handheld platforms) every two years. Looking at the last two entries alone backs up this trend. Link’s Awakening was released in 2019 while The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild came out two years before in 2017.
It should be noted that, in these past two decades, the franchise has seen a bunch of remakes and remasters of previous games in the series so there hasn’t been a brand new game each time. Link’s Awakening is also a remake of the 1993 Game Boy game and was developed by Grezzo, the studio responsible for many of Nintendo’s remasters and remakes.
Nintendo’s internal studios have been handling the mainline Legend of Zelda games, and before Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild in 2017, Nintendo put out Tri Force Heroes for the 3DS in 2015, A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS in 2013, and Skyward Sword for the Wii in 2011. That pattern alone should make fans feel just a little excited.
2021 Zelda Rumors
Another driving factor behind the idea that The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 will be released in 2021 comes from Twitter user and frequent news breaker Sabi who has had two different sources give two different release years for the upcoming title. The first source Sabi had spoken too, shortly after the reveal of the game at E3 2019, had claimed that the game is currently slated for release later this year.
This isn’t the first time that predictions have placed the new Legend of Zelda game within the same year as the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. However, a more conservative source estimated that the new Zelda game would be arriving in 2021 which Sabi seemed confident in as well. Notably, Sabi often reminds their followers how prone Legend of Zelda games have historically become to delays, both internally and publicly.
Breath of the Wild 2 isn’t Built From Scratch
Perhaps the most significant confirmed piece of information regarding The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2’s release year comes from the fact that the game is a sequel and therefore would not be starting from scratch. Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma confirmed, after E3 2019, that the sequel will have an updated map from Breath of the Wild, filled with new dungeons, puzzles, and areas to explore.
Though it is comparable to this old example, this development cycle is reminiscent of the creation of Majora’s Mask which retooled every asset and system from Ocarina of Time in order to make a new game as quickly (and as spooky) as possible. That game ended up coming out just two years after its source material so the fact that the sequel to Breath of the Wild has a basis to start from means Nintendo should save some time on development.
In any case, fans of The Legend of Zelda franchise will have to wait until the next big information drop which is likely to come during a Nintendo Direct at some point. That being said, 2021 now seems like it’s just around the corner so fans at least don’t have to wait too long.
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 is currently in development.