Don't Worry, Zelda: BOTW 2 Is Reportedly Still Aiming To Launch Next Year

I think it'll come with hardware so either holiday 2022 or March 2023.

Means nothing, Switch is doomed.

Please don't give me hope!

Advanced wars was delayed only mere months having been revealed.

Same applies here, it will be done or not. Not bothered either way but hey ho.

November '22 as Nintendo's big Christmas release makes a lot of sense to me. Unless COVID messes up development!

I'm sure the game is done by now, they just want to have a holiday title and compete against the other Game of the Year candidates.

2022 is increasingly sounding like another 2017.

Horizon Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarok, Elden Ring, and BotW 2 all launching in the same year will make for an interesting awards season.

Although I'm also half expecting it to be delayed into 2023 so that it can launch alongside an upgraded Switch model.

I'll believe it when I play it 🙃

People aren't worried about it "aiming" to release in 2022, they've said that. What people are concerned about, and rightly so, is seemingly every big Zelda game in the series HAS BEEN DELAYED beyond their initial "aim". So, why should we believe this game will be the first to release on time?

I think if Covid-19 didn’t exist, it would be here or be close.

from the latest gameplay video the sequel looks like a dlc

I can't see it releasing next year. I'd expect it to be a launch game for the next nintendo console.

I think it will be like the first BOTW game and will release on both the current hardware and the next system just like it did with the end of the Wii U / Switch transition

@rjejr probably because from the looks of the trailers and everything, this game will be using many of the same assets from BOTW.

Like Majoras Mask did with OOT.

So unless they're being lazy, i doubt it'll be delayed.

Imo I think this will be one of the last big titles for the switch and we will start seeing a shift and focus kn the switch 2 or super switch after this. It was a good run ☝

In addition to Zelda I’m hoping for a new Super Mario and Mario Kart game next year.

Would be fantastic if we got Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the new Kirby, and BOTW2 all in one year. It would be the Switch's best year by a wide margin in my eyes if that actually happens.

crosses fingers

It SHOULD launch next year, come on, it's been ages since the first one, and this doesn't intend to reinvent the wheel.

@rjejr Not every one... direct sequels like Majora's Mask, Link Between Worlds, Spirit Tracks, etc have all historically launched without. delay.

@link3710 So, games that are either 20 years old or handhelds?

Nintendo admitted HD is hard, they've done nothing in the past 10 years to make me think it's gotten any easier for them. Throw in a pandemic, the delay seems almost inevitable. I'm just hoping at this point they go the Sony/MS route, also what they did w/ BotW, and dual release it on Switch and Switch 2, hence having an excuse for a delay.

Edit: OK sorry have no idea what happened to that last link, try this.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/07/08/miyamoto-admits-nintendo-underestimated-the-switch-to-hd/?sh=683dfeeb5294

@Gamer_Zeus "this game will be using many of the same assets from BOTW. ... So unless they're being lazy, i doubt it'll be delayed."

They're using the same assets from a game that released 5 years ago to make a sequel. Not an entirely new game like Twilight Princess to Skyward Sword which took 5 years, 2006-2011, or SS to BotW which took 6 years to dual release on Wii U and Switch, but just a same asset sequel. Wouldn't you say 5 years for a sequel using the same assets on the same console is already "lazy"?

spring direct gives one last tease, E3 gives the info(name, story, dungeons) with treehouse showing gameplay. releases sometime July-Sept.

@rjejr We really don't know the timetable and scope of the sequel, might actually be getting full dungeons, underwater, sky, underground gameplay which would vastly expand the scope of the game. And maybe playable co-op with Princess Zelda? Not to mention Link's brand new abilities and the new enemy variety we have already seen in the latest trailer. Nevertheless, it has to have these things and more to really justify this delay.

saying Aiming doesn't fill me with any hope it either is or it isn't and with Covid still being a problem and work from home I expect Zelda to be delayed to 2023

@FlashmanHarry I can’t imagine we’ll see the next nintendo console anytime soon, certainly not in 2022 or 2023. I feel like late 2024 is the earliest that it would come, probably with another switch revision coming before that

@Axecon "and more"

Hence the possibility of a delay, despite the aim for 2022, which I'm very confident they are aiming for, I just won't believe they'll make it until it's in our hands. Plus covid. Which is somehow seemingly worse now than ever, after 2 years.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/12/18/national/japan-entry-measures-omicron/

@rjejr i think it probably has a lot to do with timing, i agree that 5 years for a game that is clearly using the same assets as the original is definitely lazy.

100% true. But i think it is a timing thing, would BOTW 2 have given them additional sales if they released it a year ago? Who knows.

But think about this, normally Nintendo releases Zelda games as a cross platform with their last console. So with that in mind, would BOTW 2 drive sales for Nintendo's next console if it a cross platform. More than likely yes.

@Harmonie

Also, Bayonetta 3, Splatoon 3, Mario + Rabbids 2, Advance Wars remake and Triangle Strategy.

2022 is looking like a banner year, assuming there are no delays.

I've seen this song and dance for the last 20 years of Zelda games. Press X to doubt.

Will launch along side the switch pro in the holiday of 2022 or spring 2023

They only announced the launch date for Breath of the Wild a couple of months before. I reckon it'll get announced in February and launch July at the latest.

Nintendo has been mostly good about hitting their release dates despite the pandemic - I think every one of their 2021 titles were released on time with the sole exception of Advance Wars Reboot Camp (which is a fairly small, niche title).

The last time that a big impactful Nintendo game was publicly delayed was Animal Crossing New Horizons.

@soupwoman I'd expect a new console from nintendo around the start of 2023 and I'd imagine BotW2 to be a launch title.
The main reason is with nintendo only having 1 main hardware platform to support the company, they will need to release their next console with a strong line up of games. If BotW2 is released on switch before the next hardware release. Then nintendo will be looking at probably 4 years without a mainline Zelda on their next console.

Will launch with the switch oled upgrade 😂 1mm bigger screen (same JoyCons) people will go crazy, "so much better, 1mm bigger screen, look at the colors"
Lol just kidding.
Cant wait for this gem! I am even replaying breast of the wild again, love it.

It should bear repeating: Breath of the Wild 2 does not have to be a launch title for new Nintendo hardware.

@rjejr You're telling me a game that took 5 years to develop using reused assets and physics engine, is likely to be delayed? I'm not saying developments gotten easier, but a game like this should be far easier to predict the length of development. The probabilitiy of delays aren't about how difficult a game is to develop, but how likely it is that unseen factors will break the planned timeline.

I've made a prediction on the release date back in June after E3. My predicted date is November 18, 2022. This is the third Friday of November; historically, most Zelda games were released on this exact day, regardless of the calendar number.

They are taking almost as long to make the sequel as they did the first game...also, considering they are reusing many assets...I expect this game to be absolutely amazing.

I'm sure Covid played a part in its extended development time but even still, the amount of work going into this game is insane.

Will definitely be a 2022 GOTY contender

Feb/Mar 2023. Some extra polish pushes it out a few months from the intended release date

@link3710 Reading that broke my brain. The game will be delayed if the developers stop to read that. 😂

@ModdedInkling Your predicted date was a month ago, I don't think it came out. 😉 (In fairness this does feel like month 24 of 2020. Actually kind of feels like Mid-March 2020 today.😝)

@Gamer_Zeus Then the question becomes, who long are you willing to delay a game for a new console that you are also delaying b/c the sales of the current console are going so well?

If Switch 2 is March 2023 - 6 years from the Switch launch alongside BotW - then that's fine on both counts. But if Switch 2 gets delayed until 2024 do they want to delay BotW2 that long?

I suppose the bigger question is - since this is just a sequel, perhaps even DLC that got to big I believe I read once somewhere - are there currently people working on the next new Zelda game? Is BotW2 Miles Morales while other people work on a proper Spiderman 2?

OK, BotW 2 seems to have started as DLC but then expanded into a new game 2 1/2 years ago. That seems like a long enough time to make a sequel out of DLC. Maybe they are spread out between 2 teams?

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/breath_of_the_wilds_sequel_came_from_having_too_many_dlc_ideas_aonuma_says

the launch is deffo linked to new hardware. probably waiting on the software to be ready as opposed to the latter.

The must really treat the Game Awards as a big deal over in America. To the point of anxiety when a company doesn't feel the need to show anything!

Lol.

In other words this article is just padding. To fill a gap. A guessing game.

The game is finished, done, complete and sitting on a shelf somewhere. Even Nintendo does not have a release date.

@FlashmanHarry see I can’t see that happening. Nintendo typically likes to have a system selling game available with a launch of a new system, normally Zelda or Mario. If Zelda is out next year then it won’t be Zelda and I’d expect to see the next 3D Mario game out by December 2022 ready for the movie launch, possibly even sooner. I think we could be seeing the next system by late next year

“Don’t worry, Zelda” LOL

It better, for a game that is reusing assets and has already took 3-4 years this better be the best Zelda of all time. Especially considering majora was made in 1 year.

I’m anticipating a showcase soon in the new year. Nintendo will want to make some noise sooner rather than later in 2022

@nitrolink A game with the scope, size, puzzles etc of Zelda are not as easy to develop and take time. I played Breath of the Wild on release as well and did not encounter a single bug. They will be perfecting it I am sure.

@IronMan30 lol dream away bud lol

I doubt we get the Switch successor next year. 2023 at the earliest I'd say. The system is still too profitable to kill off yet and if we've learned one thing about Nintendo it's that they don't care how out of date their hardware is compared to the competition. I do think BOTW2 is likely though next year.

I got so much to clear off my plate before BOTW2 so I'm not impatient about this one bit. I'm more concerned about Metroid Prime 4 meeting its window...

I'm going to go against the grain and say that Nintendo won't be releasing BotW 2 with a new console or new hardware, given that the semi-conductor shortage is still a massive thing, with no sign of stopping, and tech is starting to regress because of it.

I just hope they make Zelda playable as well. We've gone so many entries in the Zelda series without her being properly playable, outside of spin-offs and stuff like the phantoms (and CD-i).

It's about time for Zelda to be playable in her own legend. Even if it's ''just'' as an underground character after she fell or something.

@Darkyoshi98 it's going to happen any day now, I swear! I haven't been saying this since launch, nope, I'm not delusional (I say to the voices in my head, anyway).

@rjejr you get my point, I'm tired okay. All I meant was that a delay means that something unexpected happened, not that the game was intrinsically harder to develop.

@rjejr
Whoops, I meant to say 2022. I edited my comment.

They will release the game by mid year and then on September's direct they will announce switch 2 and BOTW2 enhanced edition to make use of some of the new features of said console along with a New Mario kart, the obligatory Pokemon game and maybe a new Mario game tie to the movie all by next year Christmas. Then new Xenoblade, some games from Ubisoft, Capcom and Nindies, rinse and repeat

It's still planned for the release window we mentioned last time we delayed it, don't worry.

Not saying I'm worried, just that people may have some more fun things to do than hyping up for a game that will be there when it's there. There are other games already here, they can be played. I'll even mention that Saint's Row 4 can be had for less than 3 euro's right now, if I'm not mistaken. Got it two days ago I think, for "gold coins".

@Grumblevolcano dont expect switch 2 come out till 2023 or 2024.

im definitely sure botw 2 will be out next year plus i wonder who going to voice ganondorf in this one.

@Gamer_Zeus Exactly two Zelda games have been cross-platform launch titles. They’re the exception, not the rule.

I thought the new bot post would be NL's most amusing one today, but... did I just witness a report lacking official news used to alleviate a worry generated by the lack of official news?😅

If it's delayed, I'm gonna be super pissed.

Kidding of course. As a long time Zelda fan I'm used to waiting an eternity between games.

@link3710 It's ok, I'm hungover. For the first time in awhile. I'm getting too old for this. 😝

@ModdedInkling Yeah I know, I just wanted to point it out to you so you could fix it. We're not all monsters here. Well not all of the time. 😁

This article is stupid. Im sorry but its stupid. We already knew Botw2 was coming out next year. And im sure nintendo has at least one brain cell and they would announce if a game this higly anticipated would be delayed. So stop being surprised.

@Grumblevolcano I doubt it. Nintendo probably won't have the resources to make a new console. Semi-conductors are in a pretty bad shortage at the moment, and tech is starting to regress due to it. Some companies are starting to sell people 6 year old graphics cards again due to it. It's unlikely Nintendo is going to be able to make a more powerful system, or new system.

Not to mention, not all new zelda titles launch with a new console. Majora's Mask and Skyward Sword never launched with a brand new console.

it seen Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 is/could be a cross-gen game, releasing in 2023 both on Switch and it sucessor.

@1ofUs Eji Aonuma stated they are aiming for 2022 release for Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2, so is not garanteed the game is gonna release next year, Nintendo can easily delay the game to 2023 due to severals factors like the release of Switch sucessor.

@Giancarlothomaz I doubt it'll release for a next gen system, given Nintendo has no way of making a next gen console. The chip shortage is getting worse as time continues to crawl. I'd be surprised if Next gen comes before 2030.

Also, yes, it's not guaranteed that BotW 2 is going to be out in 2022, but Nintendo is extremely confident, given that they put it in their 2022 AD at TGA, when normally they wouldn't if the game wasn't going to release that year, or if there was a slightest bit of doubt that it could be delayed.

@RiasGremory i dont think Ganondorf is gonna be a voiced character in Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2,he seen more bestial then the inteligent/manipulative Ganondorf we know.

@Giancarlothomaz I feel like he has to be voiced. There's no way they'll miss the opportunity. I also doubt he's going to be beast-like, given that the way Calamity Ganon is is hardly beast-like. It's still cunning and manipulative, just like the original Ganon and Ganondorf.

@Giancarlothomaz im pretty sure ganondorf will be voiced since he going to be the main villain in this one since he has reawaken from his impisonment.

think this will be a double release, for switch and nintendos 'next gen' switch. it would make perfect sense tbh, a new console will need a system seller and what better games than botw 2, mk9 etc

They are holding this tightly to try to counter the Steam Deck in februari. To get the focus they bomb us with zelda videos lol.

@Poco_Lypso Thing is though, next gen isn't happening for a while. The Switch itself is still barely halfway through it's life cycle, and the next system can't actually be produced, due to the lack of semi-conductors.

@Axecon I'd love to see a co-op Zelda, but is there any substance to that hope?

@TSR3 Co-op in BotW 2 probably won't happen, given how it'd never work in an open world game. Unless you mean Co-Op like a new four swords.

I like how everyone was originally "botw 2 on switch pro! Random man on internet said so!!!!!!!" To now "Omg botw 2 releasing late next year with next nintendo system! There's not a single thing pointing towards this, so I will get my hopes up to be totally disappointed!!!".

@TSR3 You know ever since it was the first thing people were talking about in the 2019 E3 trailer, maybe Nintendo decided to revise the game over the past two years to include co-op. Could explain one reason for the delay.

@rjejr Then let's do an estimate. Forget the HD/4K graphics and technology. That's the easy part of development.

Try and think how much time it would take to design an entire world map, placing every chest, every enemy, every obstacle, every dungeon, every slope. Then try and anticipate what every potential player has to do to achieve the objective. Also, consider enemy behavior. Then factor in the many, many, many possibilities and then implement them in the next stage of the game's design. You also need to come up with story content and mythology to back the whole thing up.

Then you'll realize you're not going to get it right on the first try. Playtesters will break the whole thing apart, and you'll need to redesign everything again, and again, and again, until it's perfectly balanced and attuned to the majority of potential players. It's like writing. No self-respecting writer publishes a first draft of anything.

Also consider that you have the entire Zelda legacy to live up to. And you're expected to deliver a consumer-friendly blockbuster open world game. Even if the game had Minecraft-level graphics, it would still take 5 years or more.

@VoidofLight that might ofc be true. altho I suppose its not impossible we will see a tech-updated switch in a year or two

@FlashmanHarry just feels way too soon for their next console. They said this year that the Switch was just about halfway through its life. So they’ll probably just release new models but no new console until 2024 at the absolute earliest

My backlog is just so ridiculous at this point that they could shelve this for 2 more years and I’ll still have games to play

@Poco_Lypso Not impossible, but yet, not likely either.

@Axecon Co-Op wouldn't work in an open world game, or at least something like Couch Co-Op wouldn't. Not to mention, most Zelda games, aside from the 4 Swords games, are supposed to be played Singleplayer.

@RiasGremory
I hope Switch 2 will be the actual next generation Nintendo console instead of a simple upgrade. It’s been almost 5 years since Switch launched and it’s almost time for the next Nintendo console.

I just want Donkey Kong

@dudujencarelli OK, then tell me why, knowing ALL OF THAT, do companies still routinely underestimate how long a game is going to take?

I have no problem w/ a game taking a long time to make, probably the longer the better, but I do have a problem w/ every single person on the planet knowing games take a long time to make, except for the 1 person who's job it is to tell us how longs games take to make.

@Don Except, the switch is just halfway into it's life, so there's still time. Plus, Nintendo is going to keep milking the success of the console until it's no longer selling the way they want.

I wasn't worried. We don't need a new trailer every time there's a big gaming event. We'd see too much and it would be less and less exciting each time. Next time we'll see it, it'll be at E3 with the title. Then later in the year, a new trailer with a release date.

Bah! Rumours on this game have been like a gut punch followed by a swift kick in the nut sack. It’s gotten to the point where Nintendo should just be brutally honest. All this speculation is getting beyond a joke

@rjejr Because it's never an exact science. Because there are always unexpected problems in a field as complex as game development - both creative missteps and also hardware/software issues.

But really, the blame can't be placed at the developers. Sales and marketing are the ones to blame. They're the ones who sell a promise they know it'll be impossible to keep, because they also need to pacify needy and nervous shareholders with these same empty promises.

There's a reason studio blockbuster movies cost hundreds of millions. They always face countless unexpected issues. The solution to meet the deadline? Hire more people than you originally meant to in order to get the mammoth project done before the release date - a release date they booked years before. And they're not going to change that date, lest they meet the wrath of financiers.

Still, it's better this way when it comes to games. Better to fall short of a promise rather than indulge the sales people. It's never good to establish a firm/unchanging release date and try to meet that. SEGA did that and we got Sonic '06.

@soupwoman 2024 is a good possibility also. 1 thing to keep in mind though is that once the switch successor is released, the switch will also continue to be in production for at least 2 years. Probably doing 5 to 10 million in sales the first year and dropping to a couple of million the second year before being discontinued. That would give it an 8 year life cycle if a successor releases in 2023 or 9 if it releases a year later.

@VoidofLight I wouldn't agree with 'never work'. Co-op could be added without full freedom for the 2nd player, like Cappy in SM Odyssey perhaps. Or Nintendo could do something totally inventive! But yeah, I wouldn't argue with you about 'probably won't' at the moment.

@Axecon So co-op is still in the realms of fanboi dreamland at the moment? Shame, but if there aren't even any rumours on the internet for it, I'll keep my hype stowed away for now!

Nintendo is NOT aiming to get Botw2 on the Switch, the are waiting for what they see is the right time to release it. The right time for them, not for us, obviously.

When the old Switch model production stops and the Oled is the new basic model and the new (what ever it looks like or is it called) PRO hybrid will be released and so will Botw2.

My guess... Late summer, with pre orders after E3.

@VoidofLight I think given a lot of Nintendo's biggest franchises have a 5-6 year gap between entries nowadays with the next entry coming in 2022 that either Nintendo is planning to release new hardware around holiday 2022/early 2023 to coincide with the software or there's no new hardware outside of minor refreshes (like the OLED) until around 2027/2028. I would be very surprised if Switch didn't teach them that the key to successful hardware is strong 1st party support.

@dudujencarelli and because a blockbuster movie costs millions is why it's released on time and the release date is announced at least a year in advance.
Botw2 is finished and sitting on a shelf somewhere. Don't guess when it's going to be ready, guess why it's being held back from us.

@VoidofLight
Maybe 7 years lifespan I can understand but 10 years is pretty long time. Not even the NES lifespan from Japanese launch to Super NES launch was 10 years or the original Game Boy (Both 7 years). PS3 was 8 years. If it’s another 5 years until the next Nintendo console launches then it will be competing with the next Xbox and Playstation 6.

@Grumblevolcano I highly doubt new hardware is coming, given Nintendo can't even produce old hardware at the moment.

@Don a 10 year lifespan might be unavoidable, if the shortage doesn't get better.

@zool You said that the switch pro was releasing for sure this year, and that didn't happen, because it didn't exist.. so yeah, you're going to easily be proven wrong once more.

@VoidofLight a new and more powerful Switch did launch, and Nintendo kept the Switch name adding Oled, like they added Lite, to the Lite.
The next one, I guess this will launch this year, once the old original model is out of production and the Oled becomes the base console.

The name Pro is used as a generic term, to indicate a more powerful console, since no one knows what name will be used the 'Pro' is as good as any. My guess is the Switch Ultra or Switch 4k.

Nintendo has almost always had three machines on the go at the same time over the last 10 plus years. The exit of the original Switch will leave room for the Ultra and in 2023 an updated Switch Lite will launch. 😄

@zool They're not making a "more powerful" model. If they had plans, those plans were thrown in the trash, given Nintendo can't even produce OLEDs or Lites anymore, due to an industry wide shortage of semiconductors needed to produce graphics cards. If they make a revision of the switch, it'll probably end up being less powerful than the base switch we have right now, given that tech is actively regressing back 6 years in order to keep the industry afloat, due to the never-ending shortage.

Well that's Nintendo done for then. Only able to make less powerful consoles. I might as well buy PS5 and forget about playing Botw2.

Well I have forgotten about Botw2 especially after waiting all this time and you saying the tech is actively regressing back 6 years.

I’ll be happy if it gets delayed. The last thing I want is a buggy game

I suspect when BOTW2 comes out it will be with the New Switch that can 4K/DLSS when docked is the most likely case. That way they can showcase Zelda at 4K. Man, the NintenDoomed fandom is breathing heavy and hard because a Switch 4K coming out ruins their plans already. Guess that is why they don't work or do R&D for Nintendo.

I keep hearing that 2022 is “stacked” just with what we know about, but not for me. BOTW 2 is the only announced release that has me hyped.

I loved Splatoon 2 and have more hours in that than any other game on switch, but Splatoon 3 looks like more of the same. I’m not a Pokémon fan, but Arceus looks like it might be worth a try, same with Kirby, but hype level is meh for these. I really hope Nintendo has something more. It doesn’t take much to make me happy, even just bringing over some classics (to buy, not a subscription) would be something to look forward to.

@IronMan30
I take it you were joking

@Cia very much so, but I guess with some of the crowd here it's easy to think I wasn't...

Since they don't have to create the engine from a scratch this time, the game could easily release next year.
Majora's Mask was released just 2 years after OOT for the same reason, and BotW sequel has been in development longer I believe.

I know BOTW2 will be released eventually. I really want HD ports of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on Switch.

@dudujencarelli "But really, the blame can't be placed at the developers. Sales and marketing are the ones to blame."

I know who to blame, but when you then say this : "Still, it's better this way when it comes to games." you are bascially saying no one is to blame, right after you stated who is to blame.

And that's the problem, people seem to like getting lied to. At least Nintendo always used to say "Please understand" in the Nintendo Directs, their version of an apology. But I don't know what's so hard w/ just saying - "It will be at least a few years yet, we don't know when." see The Elder Scrolls 6. Though I suppose both Bayonnetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 both went that route as well. Can't be late if you don't give a date. I prefer that, and it rhymes. 😉

This game had better not have the performance issues of the first and warrant the 5 yr wait for the same engine and map.

@Cia I agree to be fair it could easily already be out.

@Taylor88
They're not gonna rush it. We'll get even bigger version of Hyrule this time and now that they don't have to put the bulk of the work for worldbuilding and the physics engine, they can add a lot more details. More enemy types, more story and sidequests. That kind of thing.

I bet there will also be a bit more traditional dungeons with physics based puzzles. These could be found from the floating islands or underground. Speculation, speculation.

The Game Awards was the perfect place to unveil new gameplay, and also to announce both Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD for Switch! Why did this missed opportunity happen?

But anyway I'm really excited for the game but I'm still a bit wary of it being delayed. I mean, some rumours have been telling that Monolith Soft has been working on Xenoblade 3 for some time. But 2017 saw both Xenoblade 2 and BoTW being released so...

@rjejr because they seem to be reusing the same Hyrule overworld and many of the same physics that took them so long to develop in the first game.