It's a fantastic time of the year for those that love big-time game releases, but one download-only addition we're rather excited about is the Champions' Ballad DLC for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. With new amiibo for those Champions due in just a couple of weeks some have been wondering if the DLC would come at the same time. It seems that won't be the case, but the wait shouldn't be too long.
Nintendo Australia / New Zealand has published a video in which Eiji Aonuma gives a special message to the fans. He says some pleasant things and reminds us about the amiibo, before shifting to the DLC and stating that the team is "currently working on it with great effort" and "it'll be available by the end of this year".
It seems like a pretty definitive indication that it won't arrive alongside the amiibo (though perhaps that was the plan originally). That said, as the most notable and story-driven expansion to the game it's understandable that Nintendo wants to get it right.
We're eager to see what it'll have to offer, in any case - it's possible some further update on the release will be given when Nintendo reports its financial results on Monday 30th October.
Are you excited about the Champions' Ballad story DLC for Breath of the Wild?
With thanks to Zac for the heads up.
Comments (70)
It's weird to have these regional videos! Aonuma is a good sport!
It'll be released in December 31st.
That's still 2017. ¯(ツ)/¯
Definitely looking forward to it. I hope the dungeon isn't another Divine Beast, though.
While I'm looking forward to this I'd actually be happy if it was put off until early 2018 after this slew of AAA games coming to Switch all at once subsides.
Lol Japanese guy saying G'day.
I'm very happy with Nintendo's dedication to putting out expertly crafted products and being honest with us more often than other corporations. More often than not, they are the sole purveyors of fun in my life and they deserve more respect than most of the online community gives them. They do their best not to put out broken games and updates, unlike many other companies we're all familiar with. Looking forward to returning to Hyrule for another adventure!
To be honest I wouldn't mind a delay, it's going to be a crazy few months as it is.
“Cheerio!” Haha!! XD
Disappointing for sure as it looks like we were within two weeks of its release based on the amiibo release. I mean what function do amiibo have without the DLC? But still we likely won't see any further DLC after this release so I'm fine with waiting till its ready. Keep up the good work Aonuma-san and team!
@KirbyTheVampire I know right. I'm hoping for a big cavernous underground dungeon. Maybe the Tomb of the Fallen Champions or something like that.
With all these games. Already a backlog. Best to wait mid 2018
I like that they couldn't be bothered to change the info graphic in the video that still says dlc pack 2 coming summer of 2017.
With Mario making the rounds, i can’t really understand the urgency on Nintendo’s behalf except that it’s been promised. I have Zelda’s DLC preordered, am excited for it, but it could be released in January or February as far as I’m concerned.
For me it would be good timing if released end of November as I'm only about 25% of the way through Zelda so far and by then it would drop around the time I finish the game! having said that I'll be even more itching to start Odyssey by then probably also!
Wait wasn't BOTW supposed to release in 2015 thinking
I'd always rather have developers take as much time as they need on projects than having something rushed out to meet deadlines.
What with Mario out and Doom and Xenoblade coming I wouldn't mind if it slipped to early next year because I won't have the time to play it
Meh. Let the game die already and give us next Zelda game! lol
I think the DLC will land with the new amiibo.
I don't think Nintendo wanted the news out before Mario Odyssey.
@Alucard83 You are probably joking... at least I hope you are.
@Setery "currently working on it with great effort"
Yes, and those are nearly the same words he said at the Dec 2014 Game Awards saying the game would be out in 2015.
Miyamoto: "Are you sure that's a Wii release next year?"
Anouma: "Yes. All the staff members are working together and doing their best."
3:10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amno3GrIrZU
Hopefully this doesn't come out too close to December 1st when XC2 releases. I swear Ntinedo really lets Monolith rot with how little effort they put into marketing those games. XC was a Gamestop exclusive. Then it was a NEW 3DS exclusive at a time when there weren't all that many New models sold. XCX came out 5 days after the very much hyped FFXV and they hardly made any marketing effort at all as far as I could tell.
So my best guess is Dec 1 for the DLC.
@Noonch The DLC is releasing in Summer, though. For guys in the Southern Hemisphere, that is.
I would love it to release right now but most people will probably be busy with FE Warriors and Odyssey as well as all of the other great games coming out this year.
Maybe they should release this mid december? The Xenoblade hype will have died down so this could keep people excited. The first FE Warriors DLC will be out in December too but that's not as exciting (except for Azura)
Aonuma's G'day and Cheerio were amazing!!
We already knew this from the Kotaku interview with Reggie yesterday.
https://kotaku.com/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-s-second-expansion-is-still-o-1819892350
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/10/reggie_on_gamecube_controller_support_on_the_switch#comment4187415
I said it in the comments and I also said it when I sent the story in. I hope this DLC is substantial because the bits that they've released so far didn't take a whole lot of effort to make nor time to complete. I'm especially looking at you Travel Medallion and Hero's Path, something that was tracking our movement from the start but we had to pay to unlock such a simple feature. The same goes for Hard Mode, once a free unlockable, now shamelessly paywalled.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE congratulations mate
@Morph Thanks.
Seeing how Zelda got delayed twice it makes sense they'll have to reconfirm the release date before the DLC gets delayed. Hopefully not, I've been waiting for quite a while!
@Alucard83 The game has been out for less than 8 months. We still have about 4 more years before the next console Zelda.
what do you think, can we expect another Zelda game on Switch?
Ricegum lost.
@BlackenedHalo I would say that's a definite yes, barring there's no significant events that delay development.
They might even use the same (tweaked) engine from BotW, and that'll be sure to hasten the cycle. At least they will do another "open air" iteration.
@Moshugan yeah, Id be pretty disappointed if they didnt release another Zelda on Switch
I'm gonna take a guess and say it'll launch November 10th, the same day as the amiibo. If not then it'll release in mid-December. There's not really anything launching then outside of the Fates pack for FE Warriors.
@LiberatedAnimal Yeah, I'll be happy with anything that's more like dungeons in previous Zelda games.
I guess it'll be released mid-December with a trailer at the Game Awards. BotW has been the Nintendo focus there for 2014-2016, why not an extra year?
I'm looking forward to this. I've been delaying knocking off Gannon for quite a while now - because I just don't want to finish the game. Now that Oddyssey is here though, and with XC2 looming, maybe I should just get it over and done with...
@BlackenedHalo Funny I was thinking about that yesterday and definitely think we'll get another Zelda on Switch as development for BOTW was obviously mostly on Wii U so helped it was day 1 with the hardware. Hopefully that means some of the team are already drawing up new ideas, while some/most of the team on BOTW DLC so gives them a good 4-5 years...
I reckon a new Zelda will launch at the end of the machines lifespan.
@datamonkey @BlackenedHalo
Big budget "console" Zelda's usually take a long time, but then there's smaller scale iterations on handhelds. Now that the 3DS is winding down fast, I wouldn't be surprised if the waiting-period "small" Zelda was released on Switch as well.
I don't have the words for how special 2017 is. It's going to keep giving right till the very end
@Alikan Nailed it.
It's a good thing when people are okay with delaying the DLC because of so many other games to play.
If I hold my breath any longer I’ll die! So excited for this!
The fact this is coming out for the Wii U is a big reason we haven't splurged on a Switch yet.
I think mid December seems most likely. No big game releases. Xenoblade would be a couple weeks old. Kind've a Christmas present from the big N.
This is cool news.
@Alucard83 The game isn't even one year old yet, wait and then start complaining.
Will we get some new baddies in the game? i can dream at least...
Great! Gives me more time to beat BotW.
One thing I wouldn't mind having the DLC accompany upon release: a second save. Still enjoyed BotW, but I'd like to have a chance to easily replay the story from the beginning, without completely losing the progress made so far.
I would much rather they release the dlc when and only when its fully finished and they are 100% happy. We have enough content being released in a buggy mess due to meeting marketing or other scheduled requirements in the games industry as it is. Nintendo has been on point with most its core releases this year and now is not the time to drop standards to meet shipping date of amiibo. With so much to play right now I like others would be happy to wait till next year.
@Noonch It was released in the southern hemisphere so "summer 17" is just getting started in New Zealand.
@Moshugan Mario also seems to use the same base engine and if we look at the two different play styles both working so well I think we will be seeing a lot of it over the next few years.
@ArapaiMatt @BarFooToo checkmate
I've just finished BOTW a couple of days ago and I can't wait to play the expansion.
It's been since Friday that I'm completely hooked to Mario Odyssey and I'm sure it'll keep me busy for a long time...
Then the Amazon courier will bring me DOOM in a couple of weeks, and then I'm gonna grab the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Collector's Edition the 1st of December.
Oh it's a great time to be alive.
I'd rather wait, and get that sweet sweet Nintendo polish, than them rush and give us something... well something like what most other companies put out now. Little more than a beta build.
I cannot wait for the dlc. I played it through 3x after I got it and haven’t touched it since. Been waiting for dlc to replay again in master mode.
And I plan on buying game coming for switch that looks awesome. Like doom, la noire, skyrim, already odyssey, rocket league, xenoblade. And I haven’t played skyrim 1 time ever. So I am super hyped for it. But I want Zelda dlc too.
@Alikan Very well said. My sentiments exactly.
As always, I'd rather they take the time to do it properly than rush it out to meet some imposed deadline. And with so much to play these days, what's an extra month? Even if it's not until next year I wouldn't mind.
I haven't played any of the Breath of the Wild dlc yet. I'm waiting for Champion's Ballad to be released before I revisit the game.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Sorry you did not good value out of the hundreds of hours of Zelda you likely played for $59.95 - maybe Nintendo will read your post, and then start releasing games for free just to please you.
@BensonUii "How about you make more of the amiibos?"
I've been spending too much time in Gmaestop lately but they have gotten in several more of the BotW amiibo. 2 different Gamestops had Guardian, Rider Link, Archer Link, Wolf Link (TP). maybe a couple of others.
Not saying yo'll find the Champions, but they at least have been making some. Even my Target which hardly has any amiibo section anymore had in a few of the BOTW amiibo. So if you luck you might get lucky. Better chance than a SNES Mini anyway.
@H1B1Esquire: You can start the game with another user and there you have an additional save file.
Its is sad that i'm still seeing cry babies complaining about how all the DLC content had to be part of the original game like If the original didn't had enough content.
I'm personally still a long ways away from needing the DLC, but the amiibo look so good. I want the whole set.
@Chandlero
"...I'd like to have a chance to easily replay the story..." easily being the point. There was also a glitch that I found, but couldn't test if it was a glitch. Would have liked to have both save files on the same profile to easily compare.
@H1B1Esquire: Of course, I just tried to help with my comment. I always confused by not having save files in games anymore. However, hard mode gives you a second file besides the normal mode.
ZELDA!!!!
Anyone else thinking that the Champion amiibo and the Shovel Knight 3 pack are the last of the amiibo?
I'm good. Take all the time you need. I just got Mario. Skyrim & Xenoblade 2 will be released in the next 6 weeks plus I still have Steamworld Dig 2, Metroid: Samus Returns, Golf Story, and Stardew Valley on the backburner.
I had this complete fantasy that they would bring back the sages and create 4 to 6 dungeons that had to be discovered in the botw world as dlc using items from the past ie flute drains the lake, hammer to pound a pin, zora flippers, magic book to read unknown language. Like I said complete fantasy but man that would be sweet way to add dungeons and a more authentic Zelda experience to an already fantastic game. Who wouldn't drop money on that?
Cheerio, lol!
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