In yet another of its infamous 2020 shadow-drops, Nintendo has just lifted the lid on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity for the Nintendo Switch. Set 100 years before the events of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this sequel to the Wii U, 3DS and Switch original is being developed by Nintendo and Koei Tecmo, and is due to launch later this year.
Prior to the announcement, series producer Eiji Aonuma gave a short update on the status of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, which has to rank as the most eagerly-awaited Switch title so far. He notes that people are still playing the first title, and that the team is thankful for the support. However, he notes that in order to make "the vast world you enjoyed in the original game even more impressive, the team is working hard on its development, so you'll have to wait a bit longer before we can provide more updates."
Many people had hoped that Breath of the Wild 2 would be 2020's holiday season smash hit, but it's looking more likely that it will be released at the end of next year.
Comments 81
I’ll wait as long as it takes for another polished entry in the breath of the wild style! Maybe we can have a double whammy of metroid prime 4 and botw 2 in 2021..? Wishful thinking maybe but hey why not!
Please understand
Makes sense. It needs to top botw.
Yeah, launch game for their next system.
Seems established by now that Nintendo can't afford to launch without Zelda. ^^
End of next year? I was hoping for a release alongside the switch pro.
@jimtendog I think COVID-19 really did a number on their workflow. Japan isn't built for working from home, so companies were left scrambling on how to adjust to the situation. Since Nintendo Company is a traditional Japanese company on how they conduct business, they have very few work from home positions.
Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo of America are the exemptions to that rule since they are founded within their respective regions.
At least they’ve got a tidy bonus of a musou prequel instead of just a ‘please understand’.
yeah i'm planning to get a switch lite with breath of the wild for christmas cause i'm sick of using my brothers switch to play my games cause i weirdly bought crash nsane and spyro reignited and i play my games on a system that's not mine but i'll happily wait a bit longer for botw 2 cause i have'nt even play the first game
@Sahnec Don't forget Bayonetta!
No biggie. Just make it awesome Ninty!
Well we seem to be set for this winter. What the rest of 2021 brings who knows. I expect we’ll see this game by next Christmas. The wait is long but if that’s what it takes to live up to BOTW then right on
Yeah that sounds like christmas 2021. Argh. Such a long time for a sequel that's based on the same engine and assets.
"this sequel to the Wii U, 3DS and Switch original" WAT
@Pod
Not a chance unless the scope of the project has expanded beyond what started as DLC, which it doesn’t appear to have done since he’s still adamant about it using the same game world.
"End of next year" is surely speculation.
@feschiquetti Hyrule Warriors?
I'd rather wait for a quality game than get something rushed. Not that they'd ever rush a Zelda anyway.
@Damo Ohhhhhhh Duh
I want it to be perfect. Especially with all the hype surrounding it, I understand why they would want to make it perfect.
@SalvorHardin
They haven't shown the world at all, only the characters, and he consistently calls it "the sequel".
I don't believe it has ever been implied that what they're working on would be DLC for Breath of the Wild, but I could be wrong here.
It's a Zelda game. It's an event, not FIFA. We still play them 20, 30, or 40 years later.
I can wait.
i dont mind at all! im super hyped about age of calamity in the meantime, tho!!
The last time this happened we ended up with Wind Waker HD for "the time being" and BOTW 3.5 years later. Get buckled up guys.
This sounds like a 2022 game perhaps :/
That's fine. If Nintendo wants to do a big celebration for Zelda's 35th they can start with Skyward Sword HD in March or so, throw in a couple surprises over the summer, and cap it off with BOTW2 as the big holiday title.
Totally fine with that! I never expected it come as soon as 2020, it was never realistic. My guess is still late 2021, or spring 2022
I'm willing to believe it's worth the wait. Besides, I can't think of any game that was rushed and was actually good.
Not surprised. How many years was BOTW in development? Probably way longer than BOTW 2. And Nintendo releases games when they are ready, not with hard set deadlines.
No game for 2020 looking dry! Nintendo uno reverse. They've mastered the acts of stealth dropping. Wow good on you Nintendo, you caught us all off guard. Let see more footage come 9.26 then.
I'm just glad to hear an update, instead of being left wondering.
Anyone else actually more excited for Hyrule Warriors than BoTW2? I know I am.
@Pod They said in an interview, it was originally being developed as the final DLC for BotW before scope grew far beyond what it could be as DLC.
I want them to get it right so I'm fine with waiting a while longer.
They worked 5 years on BotW to build it from scratch and they are almost 4 years in for BotW2 with a lot of existing assets from the previous game. How big will it be? The amount of content will be absolutely insane
@link3710 Well that sounds pretty definitive then. My guess is it will be a cross release like Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild.
"but it's looking more likely that it will be released at the end of next year"
Or just March 2021. I guess they are squashing the bugs now, wich is also important.
Hyrule warriors taking place in BOTW hyrule during the calamity, like BOTW prequel is an amazing idea. This looks great.
Arigatōgozaimashita, Nintendo!
(thank you very much)
Everytime Aonuma says a Zelda game is going to take a bit more time, they usually drop a port in between. This was a surprise to everyone. And it looks like an awful lot of work has gone into it. I'd be surprised if BotW 2 does come out next year though.
@SalvorHardin
Same game world != Same map
Nintendo have NOT delivered this "gen". All their own good games on the Switch, except for Mario Odyssey, are just WiiU ports. Metroid got cancelled and Bayonetta...well... 😂😂😂
If its the same map then my hype has totally fallen...
@BrettAwesome nice trolling 👍
As I expected.....are they holding it back for the pro launch?
For one thing all those locations outside of Hyrule that you couldn't enter is the regions they most likely are working on. Maybe that's what is taking so long.
I also expect traditional dungeons to return instead of shrines and also underwater exploration as that's the in thing right now
I was figuring for awhile now that Holiday 2021 is probably the earliest we might see BotW 2 launch.
like i said severals times here, Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 is gonna be the Holiday title of Switch for 2021 and to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the franchise, remember everyone that Nintendo promised us to release a Legend of Zelda game per year, since 2016.
Well sh*t. When Aonuma tells you that you have to wait a bit longer to receive an UPDATE, it instantly means late 2021/2022 just to see another trailer.
It's ok, don't rush it for god's sake.
I'm still on the "Switch pro revision" launch title bet.
End of 2021 sounds a bit ambitious to me. Would be good for it to be released in the Zelda 35th anniversary year though. Looking fwd to it.
I'm happy to wait. Take all the time you need, developers. I'll be right here waiting on yet another masterpiece from you.
Switch 2 launch title, calling it.
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl remake will be the big November title of 2021.
My guess is that Breath of the Wild 2 will launch sometime between April - October 2021.
A 2022 release would be a tad bit concerning.
I hope this rip off game isn't the thing that slowed down the makers for BOTW 2.
Well the first one was at least five years, so no surprises there .
@SalvorHardin it would not surprise me at all if Nintendo has changed their release schedule with MK9 and Zelda being launch titles for the next system. That said, I also think that Nintendo could surprise us with a strong finish for the system.
I'm very disapointed by that Hyrule Warrior announcement. I was expecting to get some BotW 2 news, and maybe even a surprise release for the end of 2020. Well, I guess, it's not a surprise that a Zelda game takes forever to make. But considering they're recycling Hyrule from BotW1, I was expecting a much quicker release. Hopefully the concept of BotW2 is more ambitious than it seems and Aonuma needs time.
I'm a bit worried about the holiday seasons though, where are the big games? What will we play for Christmas this year?
@JMR_Alden Yeah, it isn't even a shadow drop anyway - it's a trailer for a game that isn't out for 2 months
@Agent069 Take heart from Anouma's words about working to make the world even more impressive than BotW - that gives me hope that they are pushing forward with the sequel, rather than resting on their laurels with a half-hearted cash-in.
@Agent069 Mario All-Stars, Mario Kart, Pikmin and Hyrule Warriors are it’s end-of-year releases.
Animal Crossing will likely be its main seller over the period
To be honest, I wasn't expecting to see BotW2 until next year. Fine by me. I'm one of the ten people who still needs to play the first game.
@graysoncharles Switch Pro will be a mid-gen update. So all Pro games will also work on the regular Switch.
@yuwarite You mean Switch Pro right? No way Switch 2 is 2021.
Been a long time since a core Zelda game launched without some delay. I'll happily wait as long as it takes for this gem to be polished.
If recent history is an indication, BOTW2 will be a launch title for Switch 2 and available on Switch, just like BOTW was on Switch and WU. The end of next year is heading to 5 years of the Switch so it's almost certain it would be used to launch the successor to Switch.
They delayed BotW 2 for the New Switch, just like what they did with Wii U. I bet they already finished the game, they are just holding on to it for their new system. In the meantime, play a Dynasty Warrior game while you wait and pretend it's BotW2.
Nintendo likes using Zelda as a transitioning game for their consoles. Twilight Princess for GC and Wii, BotW for Wii U and Switch and now Botw2 as well. It's like killing 2 birds with one stone - selling the same game on 2 consoles.
Guys, the Switch successor will come out in 2023 and BotW2 will come out in 2021. The former is practically confirmed by Nintendo and the latter is highly likely. Let's not jump to conclusions about it being delayed to the next system. It's a game using the same engine and map and certainly won't need six or even five years of development.
@Scarftail I'd agree with that. Switch 2 still a couple of years away as Switch is still selling well and has potential to hit 100 million units sold.
BotW2 2021 as they already have assets, art direction, story, world etc. to build off of.
@Nomad @Scarftail
BotW will launched with a Switch pro that can run the game in Nvidia upscaled 4K. It will be out next year, there's evidence already:
https://fccid.io/BKEHAT002/Letter/02-FCC-Class-II-Permissive-Change-Letter-4869805
@NoTinderLife Interesting. If they do bring out a pro model next year then surely they would have to sell that for a few years before a proper upgrade to a Switch2 or whatever they do for their next console. Either way there's a good chance BotW2 releases next year.
That's fine, just get it good and right like BOTW 1
@playstation_king
Trolling?? I'm a disappointment customer! Wii U failed miserably, but had tons of great games. I get that it makes sense to port them all to Switch since the Wii U failed. But besides ports there's almost nothing worthwhile as far as classic Nintendo titles go. Ok, so there's Smash and Luigi's mansion, but that's pretty much it.
You want to accuse me of trolling because of that??
@BrettAwesome Seven of the ten best-selling Switch games are Switch exclusives.
@BrettAwesome I have to disagree there's been plenty of good games
-breath of the wild
-kirbys all stars
-marvel ultimate alliance 3
-astral chain
-yoshi crafted world
-smash bros
-bayonetta 2
-Mario odyssey
-Mario party
-fire emblem three houses
-fire emblem warriors
-luigis mansion
-splatoon 2
-Mario and rabbids
-xenoblade chronicles 2
-paper mario origami King
-animal crossing
-Clubhouse 51 games
-ring fit adventure
-pokemon sword/shield
-pokemon legs go eevee/Pikachu
-octopath traveler
-Mario tennis aces
-snack world
-ARMS
-Dragon quest 11s
And many great ports and remasters like xenoblade chronicles definitive edition anf the witcher 3, borderlands 2, bioshock collection, rune factory 4, pokken tournament, Tokyo mirage sessions, LA noire, dragons dogma, captain toad, hyrule warriors, pokemom mystery dungeon and Mario kart 8 deluxe and more.
How can you say the wii u had better/more games? Third party support has been way better on the switch aswell.
@Euler
Yeah? Please name them?
Edit - I stand corrected.
If you're a big fan of Pokemon and Animal Crossing, I guess you're in luck.
@playstation_king
Good job. You were able to mention a lot of games. Some of those are out right mediocre at best. I said NINTENDO doesn't deliver. They have tons of exclusives...but they're not made by Nintendo. Astral chain and Bayo are made by platinum, and one is a port. Octopath, Mario and Rabbids, Marvel and Fire Emblem, Dragon quest are all made by other studios too.
If you can't even bother to read my post, you shouldn't reply to it either.
@BrettAwesome so basically you want more Mario and zelda games....
@BrettAwesome what Abundance of games did the wii u have that nintendo made themselves?
It takes years to build a game of this scale, especially since they plan to make the world even more impressive than the first game. Of course it's probably easier and faster this time, since they most likely use the same engine again. I still wouldn't expect the game before the end of 2021.
@playstation_king
Mariokart 8, Breath of the Wild, pikmin 3, Supermario 3D world, Smash bros. Except for one, those all became ports. So if you DIDN'T own a WiiU, this gen is amazing. But if you did, it's just all the same games one more time, plus mooooore pokemon and Animal Daycare. Personally I rely on 3rd party, and I don't have a problem with that. But it doesn't change my opinion that Nintendo hasn't really delivered. Not really.
@Bizzyb Assuming Botw 2 comes out in 2022, that would make the Switch 5 years old, which is a good enough time to just release a Switch 2, imo.
I don't think a Switch Pro is a good idea; if they make exclusive games for it, it's going to be another New 3DS situation, where they splinter their own market.
@Damo I'm probably just being crazy, but what if Age of Calamity is BOTW 2?
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