The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 Release Date Delayed Beyond 2022 Window

It has been five years since "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" came out on the Nintendo Switch, offering fans new open-world gameplay mechanics and lush graphics while seemingly inspiring the likes of "Genshin Impact," "Immortals Fenyx Rising," and possibly the upcoming "Sonic Frontiers," if Sega wills it. The game was so well-received, Nintendo greenlit a sequel in 2019 with the goal of getting it out by spring 2022. Sadly, "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2" has been delayed beyond this initial release window.

Series producer Eiji Aonuma released a video, which you can watch below, apologizing to fans and saying that the sequel will now be released in spring 2023. Though a specific reason for pushing the game's release date back a year wasn't provided, he did assure viewers that another year of waiting may be worth it. "In order to make this game's experience something special, the entire development team is continuing to work diligently, so please wait a while longer," the producer explained.

After the announcement, Aonuma presented some gameplay footage from "Breath of the Wild 2" as consolation for the disappointment some players no doubt feel over the year-long delay. In the video, he describes the game as taking place not only on the ground floor of Hyrule but also in the skies above. Fans have assumed the aerial portion of the sequel's world is Skyloft, which was featured in "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword," but Nintendo hasn't officially confirmed that locale will be in this game. 

Even so, Aonuma said, "The expanded world goes beyond that, and there will be an even wider variety of features you can enjoy, including new encounters and new gameplay elements." He backed this up by adding a new scene to go with the footage that was previously shown at E3 2021 when the original release window was first announced. This piece of footage features Link sporting what looks like tribal tattoos on his right arm as he takes out his Master Sword, which has been broken or corrupted in some way. Also, his hair appears to have grown a few more inches, as if he's styled it after Mel Gibson in "Braveheart."

Aonuma's explanation implies the sequel's release window was pushed back for quality assurance purposes. That's the reason Sonic Team gave for "Sonic Frontiers," which was originally supposed to come out during Sonic's 30th anniversary in 2021 but was later rescheduled to launch during this year's holiday season instead.