The Legend Of Zelda’s next outing probably won’t be a direct follow-up to Tears of the Kingdom, according to Nintendo.
In an interview with Game Informer, producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi recently chatted about the series’ future and an improbable sequel to Tears of the Kingdom, which is itself a sequel to Breath of the Wild. “Well that would be a sequel to a sequel, which is getting a little bit wild when you think about it,” says Aonuma when asked about another direct follow-up.
The two most recent mainline Zelda games have been monumental successes, especially compared to the series’ prior sales numbers. So, why no threequel? Aonuma explains that the team “were seeking to build on top of the world we created with Breath of the Wild and really exhaust the possibilities of what we could put into that world” - notably with the sequel’s wild physics and Ultrahand contraptions.
But Aonuma also says that Tears of the Kingdom was “the final form of that version of The Legend of Zelda” and he doesn’t reckon the company will develop a sequel “to a world such as that we’ve created.”
Admittedly, it’s a little hard to see where the iconic series goes from here. I’m sure millions would miss the open world gliding, unrestrained exploration, and freeform puzzling of the newer games. I’m also sure that millions would eat up a return to a traditional Zelda formula - classic dungeons, bespoke objectives, etc. Perhaps whatever comes next will fuse the two styles? Maybe Nintendo takes a wild swing in another direction? Their wording is vague enough that a threequel could simply move to a separate landmass, but only time will tell what’s next.
Regardless, the duo did spill on the team’s development philosophy, which at least gives us some insight. “We realized that fans have a great time theorizing and enjoy thinking about where things fit on the timeline,” Fujibayashi explains, though the development team doesn’t want to “get too into the weeds” worrying about the official Zelda timeline since it creates “restraints for our creativity.”
The only upcoming project we know about is the live-action Zelda film, which has some of the game’s cast very interested.
