Breath of the Wild 2 release date, news, and trailers for the next Zelda game

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (or BOTW 2, for short) has a release date – or at least a release window - with Nintendo confirming that the highly-anticipated sequel is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2022.

During Nintendo's E3 2021 Direct we got a much better look at the world of Breath of the Wild 2 – which seems to be much the same as that of the 2017 game, but with a sky-high difference. The new trailer below shows that floating cities are back, as are jumping through and even paragliding past clouds, seemingly taking inspiration from Skyward Sword (which is, of course, getting a remaster for Switch in July).

Breath of the Wild 2: what you need to know

What is it? The upcoming sequel to 2017's Breath of the Wild
What can I play it on? Nintendo Switch
When can I play it? BOTW 2 is set for release at some point in 2022

Breath of the Wild 2 release date

E3 2021 BOTW 2 — A lithe Link uses his, uh, power glove to throw cannonballs into enemies (Image credit: Nintendo)

Nintendo hadn't shared much information on Breath of the Wild 2 other than an announcement trailer and a few sparse comments but E3 2021 has given us the best look yet.

The Nintendo presentation showed off some more footage of the game, while letting slip a 2022 release date for BOTW 2.

We don't know if that's early 2022 or late 2022, but it's worth noting that the original Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017 – and if Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is being planned as a launch title for a Nintendo Switch Pro, then a March 2022 date would prove a neat five-year anniversary.

Breath of the Wild 2 trailers

We finally got a better look at Breath of the Wild 2 in the E3 2021 Nintendo presentation, and it showed off a vast, expansive world of Hyrule – expanded even further with navigation into the skies, despite the more dungeon-crawling feeling of the original 2019 teaser.

There's some paragliding up in the clouds, along with more a freefall mechanic that seems ripped right out of Skyward Sword, and a new glove that looks to be taking the place of the Sheikah slate for Breath of the Wild 2.

There's even a short clip of a splashed puddle... reverting in time? We're not entirely sure, but it's clear that some new mechanics will be introduced into the Zelda formula, while one of the first game's sentient boulder enemies (that's Stone Pebblit to you) is shown with a Bokoblin fort on its back for BOTW 2, suggesting even more dynamic interplay between the game's many enemies. Take a look below...

We got our very first glimpse of Breath of the Wild 2 at E3 2019, though, with this spooky trailer that shows Zelda and Link exploring an underground chamber – with some mysterious runes, glowing hands, and a brand-new haircut that has set the internet on fire. Suffice it to say we're excited.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 trailer that first revealed the game is just 82 seconds long and there's no dialogue whatsoever, but there are some clues to be gathered from it.

It features a torch-carrying Link and Zelda traversing a dark dungeon beneath Hyrule (no big surprise there). Spirit-like tendrils creep around the musty tomb they're exploring, with the pair riding a large elephant-like beast. Something shocks the pair, and then we cut to what appears to be the resurrection of some long-dead (and creepy looking) warrior. Could this be the return of Ganondorf?

The video then cuts to a long shot of Hyrule Field, with Hyrule Castle in the distance. There's a tremor, the castle is smothered with dust... and that's the end.

The clip finishes with a message that reads: "The sequel to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is in development."

We wouldn't usually expect so much animation to be done so early in development, but it probably helps that Nintendo already has the in-game engine from Breath of the Wild.

Breath of the Wild 2 news and rumors

BOWT 2 and those Majora's Mask comparisons

Nintendo's Treehouse is always a great place to find new info on upcoming Nintendo games, and Breath of the Wild 2 is no different. Bill Trinen, Senior Product Marketing Manager of Nintendo of America, spoke of BOTW 2 in a recent broadcast with IGN, and its much-noted comparison to the relationship between the N64's Ocarina of Time and its sequel, Majora's Mask.

"I would say it’s an easy comparison or conclusion to jump to at this point in time, just given what’s been shown so far and given the nature of it being a direct sequel. So I understand people making that conclusion, but at the same time – and I don’t want to delve too much into it – but this is its own game”.

However, whereas Majora's Mask reused lots of assets, Trinen wanted to make it clear that this is indeed a true sequel. “I think as we start to show a bit more of the game over the coming months to the next year or so, it’ll probably start to be a bit more apparent where this game stands on its own and what makes it so unique”.

"The way that [BOTW 2] builds on Breath of the Wild, which already was such an expansive game with so many layers of Link’s abilities and layers to the gameplay… I think this is going to layer quite a bit more into that”.

Ganondorf fan theory for BOTW 2

A new Breath of the Wild 2 fan theory is suggesting that Ganondorf could be a playable character in segments of the game. Barrett Courtney of Kinda Funny (via GameSpot) has suggested that the Link we got a glimpse of in the new E3 2021 trailer is actually Ganondorf and that part of the game will involve players exploring the fall of Ganondorf.

“This game will be learning about the fall of Ganondorf the man and then saving him from the evil that has been ruling over him for generations. And in doing so, we’ll break the cycle started by Demise.”

Continuing down this line, Courtney has suggested that the full name of BOTW 2 (still being kept under wraps by Nintendo) could be something like “Demise of the Wild”, making reference to Breath of the Wild and the corruption caused by Demise.

Incidentally, Demise is one of the main antagonists of Skyward Sword, which is to be re-released on Switch later this year. Courtney suggests that a Skyward Sword port was a deliberate choice, “Fujibayashi wants to connect all 3 of his major games together and getting Skyward to Switch will give first timers the back story they need before BOTW2.”

Of course, there is evidence against the theory and until Nintendo reveals more about the game, we can’t be absolutely certain about the story that Breath of the Wild 2 will tell.

The real title is being kept a secret

Nintendo revealed to IGN that it's holding back on revealing the official full title of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 because it could give away some of what's going to happen in the game.

“As for why we’re holding back on the name, you’ll just have to stay tuned because, obviously, Zelda names are kind of important,” Nintendo Treehouse's Bill Trinen explained. “Those subtitles... they start to give little bits of hints about maybe what’s going to happen.”

Trinen didn't indicate when Nintendo is planning to reveal the full title but it's likely that won't be until closer to the game's release.

Nintendo responds to Majora’s Mask comparisons

Following the E3 2021 trailer for Breath of the Wild 2, fans have been comparing what they’ve seen to previous Legend of Zelda release, Majora’s Mask. Nintendo Treehouse’s Bill Trinen has told IGN that while he can understand these comparisons “given what’s been shown so far and given the nature of it being a direct sequel,” he emphasizes “this is its own game.”

Trinen went on to say, “I think as we start to show a bit more of the game over the coming months to the next year or so, it’ll probably start to be a bit more apparent where this game stands on its own and what makes it so unique.”

Nintendo E3 2021
We got a new Breath of the Wild 2 trailer at E3 2021, during the Nintendo presentation on June 15. We'd heard a couple of months prior that Nintendo was confirmed as an attendee for the all-digital expo, and fans had been chomping at the bit right up until the new trailer and release date dropped.

It’s going to be great to get the video game industry back together with our fans this June. We’ll make the virtual format fun and engaging. Looking forward to seeing you all in June! https://t.co/ZQidcWqAF4April 7, 2021

More information coming in 2021
Nintendo’s Direct presentation in February 2021 didn’t bring any more details on Breath of the Wild 2 but it wasn’t completely absent. Zelda series producer, Eiji Aonuma, shared a small update during the presentation (via NintendoLife), noting that development is “proceeding smoothly” and that there’s going to be more information on the game later this year.

“I’m sure a lot of you saw me and thought there might be news to the sequel to the Breath of the Wild game.” Aonuma said, “Unfortunately, we don’t have anything to share right now. Development is proceeding smoothly and we should be able to bring you some information this year. For now, we’ll have to ask you to wait just a bit longer.”

We now have a 2022 release date, of course, but that doesn't mean we don't hear more before 2021 is over.

Hyrule Warriors and a longer wait for news
Nintendo and Koei Tecmo Games have released a prequel to the original Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild titled Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Set 100 years before the original game, it has Link, Zelda and friends (including the four Champions, who will be playable for the first time) battle hordes of enemies in Hyrule before it was destroyed in the Great Calamity.

While it was exciting to have the chance to return to Hyrule in 2020, the release of this prequel did suggest it could be another while before we hear anything more about a sequel.

In revealing Age of Calamity, series producer Eiji Aonuma acknowledged the relative lack of news for Breath of the Wild 2 and said:

“In order to make the vast world you enjoyed exploring in the original game even more impressive, the team is working hard on its development, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer before we can provide more updates.”

Could Switch Pro rumors offer Breath of the Wild 2 hints?
There have been numerous reports that there's a Nintendo Switch Pro in the works for a 2021-2022 release date. Reports of the new console come from the Economic Daily News and Bloomberg both of which suggest a more powerful Nintendo Switch console with upgraded interactivity and improved display quality could be coming next year. Along with these hardware upgrades, Bloomberg also suggests that Nintendo has a bunch of new games up its sleeve to launch alongside the console.

Given the original Breath of the Wild launched with the original Nintendo Switch back in 2017, launching Breath of the Wild 2 alongside a more advanced iteration of the console would be some nice symmetry.

That said, all of this is mere conjecture until Nintendo confirms the existence of a Nintendo Switch Pro or gives us an update on the progress of Breath of the Wild 2.

Voice acting misunderstanding
In a sign of just how much fans are looking for news on Breath of the Wild 2, an interview with the voice actors behind the Spanish dubs of Zelda and Revali in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Spanish podcast A Coffee with Nintendo was seized upon and caused some controversy (via IGN).

In the interview it seemed to be suggested that the voice actors had finished their work on BOTW 2, leading fans to think that the game might be further along in its development than originally thought. However, this proved to be incorrect. It was later clarified that the voice actors were joking and that context was lost due to translation issues. In fact, it's not even confirmed that they're working on the sequel. So we're left with no further clues as to progress on Breath of the Wild 2.

Rumors spreading
It's been a long time since anything solid on Breath of the Wild 2 has been announced and, as ever, in the absence of solid news rumors tend to creep in.

One rumor has come from Tyler McVicker. Known primarily for his YouTube channel dedicated to Valve rumors, McVicker announced back in 2020 that he was setting up a Nintendo news channel and on a stream in March 2020 (around the 11-minute mark) teased some unconfirmed information (via NintendoLife) on the Zelda sequel.

According to McVicker, Breath of the Wild 2 will take players back to the same Hyrule layout but introduce new things like "miasma"-like corruption and dungeons to add depth and detail to the map, taking inspiration from Red Dead Redemption 2 and another unnamed game.

Anything said about Breath of the Wild 2 that hasn't come from Nintendo itself should naturally be taken with a huge pinch of salt.

All the DLC that never was
In an interview with Kotaku, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma said there were originally plans for more DLC content for BOTW, after The Champion's Ballad and Master Trials add-ons that came in 2017.

"Initially we were thinking of just DLC ideas," says Anouma. "But then we had a lot of ideas and we said, 'This is too many ideas, let’s just make one new game and start from scratch.'"

BOTW 2 will be a darker turn for the series
All we really know at this point is how little we know. But boy, are there rumors. The unexpected trailer sparked a huge amount of speculation, hopes and hot takes on what the next mainline Zelda title might include.

We've heard from Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma that the game is going to have a darker tone than Breath of the Wild, and will even be "a little bit darker" than Majora's Mask (via IGN).

The trailer certainly supports this, with what looks like Ganondorf's corpse being resurrected by a disembodied hand, and seemingly imagery from 2006's Twilight Princess, which saw Hyrule turned into a bleak shadow realm – largely in response to the far cheerier and cartoonish The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

The Twilight realm
The glowing blue hand in the trailer is the biggest clue that we'll be seeing more of the Twili – shadow people descended from Hylians who tried to take the power of the Triforce for themselves. The hand is wrapped in twisting shapes reminiscent of Twilight architecture, while the swirling magic could remind some of the portals that let Twili invade Hyrule in the 2006 game.

We know that BOTW's dev team originally toyed with the idea of an alien invasion, and seeing shadow creatures teleport out of the sky could well have been what they have planned this time around.

A clue in the audio
Showing just how far some Zelda fans will go, reddit user u/ReroFunk (via Inverse) pieced together a pretty convincing theory regarding Twilight Princess villain Zant, a Twili who served Ganondorf in the game. If you listen to the trailer's audio in reverse, there are certain notes that seem to echo the music played during your final encounter with Zant – who, while defeated, is adamant he'll return through the power of his "god".

u/ReroFunk also suggests we could see the demon king Demise return for the next Zelda game. Demise was the final boss in Skyward Sword, and revealed to be the original form of Ganondorf. The below still from the Zelda trailer also looks a lot like Demise when you think about it.

Lots of dungeons (and an extended map)
Rumors about the Breath of the Wild sequel suggest that we could be in for a treat in the form of a new map that's not like anything we've seen from Zelda before. What's more, a couple of new job listings suggest that Nintendo is looking for people to work on designing some dungeons and hidden bosses for the game – so far, so exciting.

Zelda's turn in the spotlight?
One of the favorite fan theories doing the rounds regards the Hyrule princess herself. She's shown in the trailer with a practical short haircut, and is dressed in a manner pretty similar to Link's own adventurer's gear – leading some to think she may be a playable character.

Zelda's devs have seemed pretty dismissive of the idea of a female Link in the past – sadly – but we may in this game see sections playing as Zelda, or at least with her playing a more active role in the story.