Remember when the next Legend of Zelda game was supposed to hit the Wii U? To the point where people bought the Wii U, an underperforming console, solely in anticipation of the next Legend of Zelda game? And then we heard about the Nintendo NX, the next generation of Nintendo home console? And then we heard that it was called the Nintendo Switch and how it’d swap between being a home and handheld console? And everyone assumed Breath of the Wild would be part of the console’s launch line-up ?
Think again: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may not be playable until summer 2017, months after the Nintendo Switch’s projected March 2017 release date.
According to Nintendo insider Emily Rogers in a post on her blog:
“More sources have now come forward and corroborated my information. They’ve told me that localization for Breath of the Wild might not be finished until the end of December. After localization is completed, this game will require between (at least) four-to-six months of testing. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of Nintendo’s largest and most ambitious games ever. The amount of testing required for a huge open-world game like this is enormous. Nintendo’s intention is to have the game as bug free as possible.
“Based on what I’ve heard, I have no reason to believe that Breath of the Wild will be a March title. There’s a much higher chance of Breath of the Wild being a summer 2017 game.”
Nintendo fans are patient because they have to be: Nintendo crafts its masterpieces slowly, and a delay means nothing when the game that comes out is lauded as one of the best of all time. But a game that drips from console generation to console generation? Be careful, Nintendo: let’s not make this into a Final Fantasy situation, where fans waited over a decade for the next installment of the main Final Fantasy series to be released.
Will you be playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Wii U or are you waiting for the Nintendo NX version? Feel free to discuss this rumor in our comments section below.
