Nintendo is in a precarious situation. Although the Switch is selling incredibly well, and they’ve had a decent, but not stellar, year software-wise, they need a killer app for the holidays. Both Sony and Microsoft are launching their new consoles this holiday season, and Nintendo needs to be able to compete in order to stay relevant. There is only one game that can do that for them: Breath of the Wild 2. Breath of the Wild 2 must come out this year, rather this holiday season, if Nintendo has a chance at competing during the holidays. Zelda has become a killer app for Nintendo, launching their two most successful consoles, the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo Switch.
Breath of the Wild 2 is perhaps the most anticipated game for the Nintendo Switch. According to friend of the site GameOverJesse, who is very reliable and has legitimate sources, development is moving along much faster than expected and is moving along smoothly. There have been no hiccups and if not for the lack of E3 this year, Zelda would have probably been front and center at the trade show. There was another leaker, who leaked the entirety of E3 2019, who stated that as of his posting, the game was looking to come out holiday season 2020, or rather planned to, though he stated that was not set in stone. There are several reasons why Breath of the Wild 2 must come out this year. One major component is that as of now, Nintendo has no killer software being released for the holidays, while Sony and Microsoft are releasing brand new systems. If they don’t release with what made the Nintendo Switch what it is today, they won’t be able to compete.
It would also take pressure off of other projects they are currently working on. Zelda is sure to sell like hotcakes. They are using the same overworld as Breath of the Wild. All they need to do is mix a few things up, re-use many of the assets from Breath of the Wild, add some traditional dungeons and a new gameplay mechanic, and the game is set. Yes, this sounds easier said than done, but it’s a lot easier than building a brand new game from scratch. This would relieve the pressure off of the other titles Nintendo is currently working on. It would also take the pressure off of the company to release a new first-party game almost every month, which they haven’t really been doing this year as opposed to the last few years. If you release Zelda this year, everyone’s happy. It’s a no-brainer decision. With the release of Link’s Awakening HD, this would make three Zelda games on the Switch. It’s the only game that can compete with two brand new systems being released.
Now, this isn’t to say that the release of Breath of the Wild 2 will overtake Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles; far from it. But it would at least give Nintendo the chance to compete and stay in the race for the holidays. There’s no other game that Nintendo could possibly come out with that could do this, Mario included. Breath of the Wild came out not only with massive critical acclaim, but sold Switches. Breath of the Wild 2 would do the same. Zelda games are notorious for their delays, but, this is more of a Majora’s Mask situation; they have all the assets and even the world in place. All they need are dungeons, items, and a new story, and the game is set. Majora’s Mask came out two years after Ocarina of Time. There’s no reason why Breath of the Wild 2 couldn’t come out three and a half years after the release of the first game.
Plus, it will be pretty amazing to see the return of Ganondorf after 14 years.
While nothing is set in stone, and we don’t presume it will come out in 2020, if Nintendo wants to compete with two new consoles launching, Nintendo must release Breath of the Wild 2 this holiday season in order compete. It’s a no brainer. And there’s no other game that Nintendo could come out with that could do the job.