Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 won’t release this year after all

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has been delayed and is now expected to launch sometime in 2023.

Nintendo made the announcement on Twitter, with series producer Eiji Aonuma sharing an update on Breath of the Wild 2 in a short video.

“We previously announced that we were aiming for a 2022 release for this game,” Aonuma said in the video.

“However, we have decided to extend our development time a bit, and change the release to Spring 2023.

“For those of you who have been looking forward to a release this year, we apologize.”

Aonuma gave no specific reason for the Nintendo Switch game’s delay, but said the development team working on the much-anticipated title will continue to work diligently and asked fans to be patient.

Elsewhere in the video, a tiny tease gives us another glimpse of what we can expect from the upcoming sequel. Aonuma summarises the features of the game, including an expanded world, new encounters, and additional gameplay elements. On this final point, the video shows what looks to be a very different design of Link’s classic Master Sword – its blade is waved around the edge and riddled with holes.

First revealed during E3 in 2019 in a short teaser trailer, the as-yet-untitled sequel to Breath of the Wild was slated for a 2022 release but never received a firm launch date or window. Many predicted it would release late in the year, given how few details Nintendo has announced of the game outside of a second E3 trailer in 2021.