Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 ‘won’t release in 2020’, insider claims

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 will not release in 2020, it’s been claimed.

That’s according to noted Nintendo insider ‘Sabi’, who suggested on Friday that the sequel’s development was taking longer than expected and that its release could miss this calendar year.

Breath of the Wild 2 was announced via teaser trailer during Nintendo’s E3 2019 Nintendo Direct. The trailer confirmed the sequel was in development but no further details were announced.

In Nintendo‘s latest earnings results, the sequel is listed with a ‘TBA’ release.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guides:

Master Sword location | How to increase inventory space | How to increase hearts and stamina  | How to get warm clothes | Wingsuit location | Hylian Shield location | Duplication glitch

In June Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma confirmed that Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi has retained his role on the sequel.

In an interview with Game Informer, Aonuma said: “We’re working together really hard on this game.

“One of the reasons we wanted to create a continuation was because I wanted to revisit that Hyrule again and use that world again, while incorporating new gameplay and new story,” he added.

Aonuma also said that younger members of the sequel’s development team had drawn inspiration from Red Dead Redemption 2, while Fujibayashi was playing Skyrim during the creation of the original Breath of the Wild.

An abundance of ideas for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild DLC resulted in Nintendo opting to develop a full-blown sequel rather than continuing to add to the original game, he said.

“When we released the DLC for Breath of the Wild, we realized that this is a great way to add more elements to the same world,” Aonuma told Kotaku.

“But when it comes down to technical things, DLC is pretty much data—you’re adding data to a preexisting title. And so when we wanted to add bigger changes, DLC is not enough, and that’s why we thought maybe a sequel would be a good fit.

“Initially we were thinking of just DLC ideas,” he added, “but then we had a lot of ideas and we said, ‘This is too many ideas, let’s just make one new game and start from scratch.’”

A trailer shown during its Nintendo Direct E3 presentation featured Link and Zelda together, although no further details were announced.

Elsewhere, Aonuma wouldn’t be drawn on whether Zelda might be a playable character, or if the title will support co-op.

“It’s kind of interesting that you bring that up,” he told IGN, “because in Breath of the Wild, you see Zelda and Link together often too, so to go straight into the thought of co-op is very interesting to me.”

He also told Kotaku he “can’t say” how many playable characters the game will feature.