Nintendo has had a good relationship with both large and small developers over the years. They even lend some of their biggest first-party franchises to other developers to make new games. The Legend of Zelda is a great example of that. Capcom has made a plethora of games in this franchise.
They primarily developed portable spinoffs like The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Then there are indie developers like Brace Yourself Games who made Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda for them. With the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom it’s hard not to think of what could be next for the franchise. Who should Nintendo partner with for the next mainline game or spinoff in the series?
8 Atlus
Atlus could make a killer game set in this series. It could be like the Persona games wherein Link and Zelda are attending an academy together. The Persona games are built on going into dungeons at night which would fit perfectly with the dungeon aspects of Zelda adventures.
The game could be turn-based and feature a cavalcade of permanent and temporary party members to join the fray. The teachers at this academy could also be cameos of oddball characters like Tingle or Beedle. Instead of Persona, Atlus could also frame it like Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and have Link, Zelda, and other characters possess the main party like Personas.
7 Chucklefish
Chucklefish has an assortment of original titles and published games under its belt. The most relevant one for this entry is Wargroove which was like a fan-made spiritual successor to both Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. It wouldn’t make sense for Nintendo to give Chucklefish those licenses since Wargroove is too similar.
What they could do instead is make a tactical RPG in the Zelda franchise. Players could command two factions for multiple story scenarios like one involving Zelda commanding Hyrule troops while another could have Ganon control an evil army.
6 Creative Assembly
Creative Assembly could also make a great tactical RPG although their game would be more RTS-like. These developers are known most famously for the Total War series of RTS games. The same overall idea applies to this developer concerning two campaigns of light and dark.
The biggest difference would be the gameplay. Players could build armies and settlements all to conquer the land under their chosen banner. Maybe this could even be set at the beginning of this universe with even more nations on the line.
5 Digital Sun
Digital Sun made a small name for itself when it released the roguelike game Moonlighter in 2018. Recently, they put out The Mageseeker - A League of Legends Story in collaboration with Riot Games. Their next project could come from Nintendo and they could go back to their Moonlighter roots for a spinoff of the Zelda series.
The game could follow a shopkeeper who explores dungeons at night to sell his collected wares at the shop in the daytime. Beedle would be a good choice for a protagonist but so would the Happy Mask Salesman.
4 PlatinumGames
PlatinumGames has worked with Nintendo on a plethora of exclusive games like Bayonetta 3. The company is fond of showcasing cool female characters with badass action skills. They could make a Bayonetta-style action game with a lesser-known character in the Zelda franchise like Linkle.
Linkle is the gender-swapped version of Link from another universe that first appeared in Hyrule Warriors. The game could play like Bayonetta since Linkle uses two crossbows for weapons, and it could take place in this gender-swapped universe. Zelda could be a man, Tingle could be a woman, and the list goes on.
3 Square Enix
Square Enix, Squaresoft at the time, did the impossible for Nintendo in the 90s. They turned their beloved platformer icon into an RPG star via Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. It was an odd idea but it proved the concept could work.
It is the only RPG spinoff they worked on while other companies helped create two separate RPG series via Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario. Now, imagine Square Enix coming back decades later to try their hand at a turn-based RPG based on The Legend of Zelda.
2 Team Cherry
Team Cherry is hard at work trying to put out Hollow Knight: Silksong which was announced in 2019. They can take their time with that game because fans know it will be worth it in the end. They are a small studio which is why it is taking so long, but the process for making their next game could be sped up if Nintendo gave them additional resources.
A Zelda game would work well in the Metroidvania genre because players are used to collecting abilities and gear to access new areas in dungeons already. It’s surprising that Nintendo hasn’t given Link more 2D adventures internally at this point.
1 Ubisoft
Ubisoft, like Capcom, has collaborated with Nintendo in the past on games such as Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. One of their biggest franchises is Assassin’s Creed and they could make a game like that set in the Zelda series. Zelda could govern her kingdom in the daylight as herself and then go out on missions as Sheik at night.
This series has dabbled with stealth before like in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but none of these segments felt great. With Ubisoft’s help, they could make a killer stealth/assassination game.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released on May 12, 2023, and is available on Switch.