Sep 13, 2022 - Technology
Nintendo reveals Zelda release date in 2023 announcement avalanche
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Nintendo showed no signs of decelerating its Switch console business Tuesday with an online showcase that revealed major releases deep into 2023.
Driving the news: Nintendo's show-closer was a short trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the repeatedly delayed sequel to its 2017 Switch launch hit Breath of the Wild.
- Having missed a late 2022 release, it's slated for May 12, 2023.
Nintendo also announced:
- Fire Emblem Engage — The latest in Nintendo's turn-based strategy series, for Jan. 20, 2023.
- Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe — A remake of a multiplayer Wii action game slated for Feb. 24, 2023.
- Octopath Traveler 2 — A role-playing game from SquareEnix for Feb. 24, 2023.
- Fatal Frame Mask of the Lunar Eclipse — A port of a Wii horror game that was previously only released in Japan, for early 2023.
- Pikmin 4 — The long-awaited sequel about controlling armies of tiny plant-men (teased by Nintendo developers since 2015) for 2023.
- GoldenEye 64, Pilotwings 64 and other classic Nintendo 64 games coming to the company's Nintendo Switch Online subscription service "soon."
The big picture: Nintendo's Switch system will be more than 6 years old by the time the new Zelda is released, the far end of the timeframe during which Nintendo has heavily supported its consoles.
- But the system has remained hot and Nintendo has promised to support it longer.
- Today's announcements, which show Nintendo also dipping back into its older libraries for remasters and remakes (a favorite strategy) show Nintendo can stretch the Switch's life for quite some time.
