Daily Debate: Was Nintendo’s Marketing for Tears of the Kingdom Better Than We Gave Them Credit For?
Posted on June 04 2023 by Heather Beard
Spoiler Warning: The comments section might contain spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom.
The first teaser trailer for the sequel to Breath of the Wild released the Summer of 2019. Since then we were given tiny little updates on the game’s development and progress. It was not until September of 2022 when we would actually be able to put a title to the highly anticipated sequel. The marketing for Tears of the Kingdom, at times, felt like we were waiting for Christmas. As fans I think we hung on to every tiny piece of news we could grasp on to, but did we give Nintendo enough credit for their marketing scheme? I think not.
I feel like Nintendo has done something a little genius when it came to marketing Tears of the Kingdom. In the blurb for the second trailer on YouTube Nintendo states, “An epic adventure across the land and skies…” Over the last handful of months we were lead to think that our adventure in Tears of the Kingdom would be on the ground and in the sky, but Nintendo never gave us any indication that we would be heading to The Depths. The only bits we could make of The Depths was the now known to us Gloom that surrounded Hyrule castle. Personally I was lead to believe that it was returning Malice from Calamity Ganon.
Over the years I complained a bit that they were not marketing the game enough. I can understand the announcement of delays, but for a game as big as this one Nintendo seemed quiet. Once 2023 rolled along they began a massive marketing blitz that took me by surprise. One of the best things I think Nintendo did when it came to marketing Tears of the Kingdom was all of the secrecy behind the story, where all we would be exploring, and the incredible size of Hyrule’s map. The deception is truly amazing and I think that we as fans are failing to give Nintendo the proper credit for pulling on over on us like this. I’m happy to be wrong, and after having 70+ hours into the game I think that Nintendo did this right. Tears of the Kingdom is everything I wanted an more and the marketing, after seeing the other side, was brilliant.
Do you think that Nintendo did well with its marketing for Tears of the Kingdom? Why or why not. Let us know in the comments down below.
Hi I’m Heather! I’m Senior Editor and Art Director at Zelda Dungeon and I’ve been a member of the ZD team since 2019. I am a graphic designer, artist, and nerdy mom to an awesome little boy. When my nose isn’t in a book, working on my novel or watching anime you can find me curled up with my cats Mandy-Lynn and Daisy Mae.
