Next year promises to be huge for Nintendo. Just for starters, it's delivering a hugely creative new Pokemon spinoff in the form of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and it plans to continue its young but vibrant shooter franchise in Splatoon 3. And perhaps most exciting of all, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 will finally arrive on the Nintendo Switch sometime next year. The wait for this game has been a lot longer than many Zelda fans hoped. Nintendo announced The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 at E3 2019, which potentially suggests the wait has been longer than Nintendo intended too. Regardless, the wait may nearly be over.
Although fans have never been closer to the release of Breath of the Wild 2, there are still tons of basic details that Nintendo hasn't explained. Fans aren't clear on what exactly the plot of the game is, aside from eager speculation about Ganondorf's return from the dead or the second coming of Demise. Lots of obvious gameplay changes and updates haven't been explained in depth outside of their reveal in the E3 2021 trailer for Breath of the Wild 2. Fans don't even know the Breath of the Wild sequel's real name. In spite of all these mysteries, though, fans will probably have to wait a couple of months for details. Nintendo has a lot on its plate right now.
The Wait Ahead of Zelda News
Odds seem good that Nintendo won't share any major updates on Breath of the Wild 2 in 2021. There are a couple of reasons for that. For one, Nintendo has a lot of games to push in the final months of 2021. It's releasing Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl in November 2021, and there's no doubt that Nintendo will do everything in its power to advertise these Pokemon Gen 4 remakes. What's more, Nintendo probably plans to help push Shin Megami Tensei 5, which is mere days away from release. As the holiday shopping season approaches, Nintendo will probably prefer to market games that are for sale within 2021 rather than advertising games that won't release until next year.
The specific release date of BotW 2 is another reason that news could take a while to get to fans. Strictly speaking, Zelda fans don't know when in 2022 Nintendo plans to release the game. It's possible that a full year will go by before it comes out. Even so, it doesn't seem likely that Nintendo would ignore Breath of the Wild 2 for another six months, even if it doesn't release until the third or fourth quarter of 2022. On the contrary, it seems plausible that Nintendo will release some new BotW 2 information at the start of 2022.
All Eyes on the Nintendo Direct
Nintendo loves to keep fans up to date on its projects through frequent Nintendo Directs, spotlighting various games coming to its consoles. Although Nintendo was uncharacteristically quiet in 2020, it's gotten back on the horse with new Directs in 2021. That's a good sign for Nintendo's traditional Direct at the start of a year, a habit that sets expectations for each year's roster of Nintendo games. If Nintendo runs a Direct in January or February of 2022 as usual, then fans can bet that Breath of the Wild 2 will make an appearance. Breath of the Wild 2 already promises to be the star of the Switch in 2022, so Nintendo will probably give fans another update.
It's hard to say just how much information Nintendo will release if it brings up Breath of the Wild 2 in 2022's first Direct. It may just release another trailer like the E3 2021 trailer, hinting at some more plot and gameplay elements, but providing little clarity. Alternatively, since more than half a year will have passed since E3 2021, maybe Nintendo will be ready to provide a more specific release window for BotW2. Whatever the case, the first months of 2022 seem like the perfect time to release any amount of new Zelda news, getting fans excited for the rest of the year.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 releases in 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
