Daily Debate: How Long Into Development Should Nintendo Wait to Announce A Zelda Game?
Posted on August 29 2018 by Sean Gadus
The “Zelda Wii U” trailer at E3 2014 was incredibly exciting for many fans. Fans and critics had waited years to see the next step in the evolution of the The Legend of Zelda series ever since the advent of the Wii. The epic cinematic trailer raised many questions for fans: was Link a female? What was that gigantic laser firing enemy that was pursuing Link? What was that techno-arrow he finished the monster off with?
Some of these questions would go unanswered for years, as the game gestated behind closed doors at Nintendo. As a fan who bought a Wii U with the plan to play a new Zelda game, each delay was excruciating, especially as it became clear the Wii U was going extinct. While Breath of the Wild launched to incredible acclaim, there were some hurt feelings and frustration in the years leading up to the dual launch on Wii U and Switch.
With this in mind, how long into development should a new Zelda game be before it is announced or revealed? Should a game be announced well in advance to appease and to get fans hungry, or should a game be kept hidden until the release date is within reach (as Fall Out 4 did in 2015 when it launched a few months after its E3 reveal)?
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
