Nintendo won't release its 'Breath of the Wild' sequel in 2021

You’ll have to wait a while longer if you want the follow-up to Breath of the Wild. Nintendo told E3 2021 viewers that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (or whatever it will be called) won’t get a release date until sometime in 2022.

That’s roughly a year later than some expected, although it’s notable that Nintendo didn’t commit to a 2021 release date for Breath of the Wild 2 when it introduced the game at E3 2019. Still, that leaves fans waiting five years from the original Switch game’s 2017 debut to get a proper sequel. Nintendo didn’t elaborate on why the Breath of the Wild 2 release date was so distant, although the scale of the open-world action RPG and the hurdles of developing during the COVID-19 pandemic may have played a role.

The company offered a consolation prize in return for setting the Breath of the Wild 2 release date relatively far into the future. A new gameplay teaser trailer has  revealed that the game will not only take place in Hyrule, but above it — Link will have to battle foes in islands floating among the clouds. He’ll also have to deal with an ominous castle (Ganon again?) and make clever use of the time-freeze mechanic to solve puzzles and thwart enemies.

A lot depends on Breath of the Wild 2, although Nintendo isn’t in as much of a rush to issue a release date as it was back in 2017. The first game was a Switch launch-era title that was crucial to selling the fledgling console. Now, the Switch is a well-established commercial success — the sequel is mainly important as a way to maintain interest in the console as it competes with the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and other newer systems.