The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom might just be the Nintendo Switch’s swan song, as the console maker prepares for the next generation.
Based on what VGC’s Andy Robinson has heard, he estimates that Nintendo will starts talking about its next generation console by 2024, and he’s not convinced that another huge first-party game other than The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is left on the Nintendo Switch. Though, he did add that the usual Nintendo prediction caveats apply to this prediction.
Similarly, back in November last year, GamesIndustry.biz’s Christopher Ding had also stated that the Nintendo Switch lineup after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is non-existent. With regards to new entries in series like Metroid Prime, Mario and Donkey Kong, Ding added that, while Nintendo does have these games are in development, they are not slated for release in 2023.
Ding further clarified that this doesn’t mean that Nintendo doesn’t have anything in the pipeline, post Tears of the Kingdom. He said that there will be other first-party Nintendo Switch titles scheduled for release in 2023; just not significant ones. For example, he mentioned that he considers Pikmin 4, in many ways, one of Nintendo’s smallest franchises.
Previously, it was revealed that Tears of the Kingdom will feature online functionality. A Reddit user had shared a picture of store promotional material for the game, revealing that it will feature online functionality of some kind. It’s unclear what the online functionality pertains to. It may be limited to just cloud saves or leaderboards. On the other hand, it could be a more elaborate asynchronous online feature involving other players. Nintendo has yet to confirm anything on this front.
Tears of the Kingdom is the latest action-adventure game in The Legend of Zelda series that is developed and published by Nintendo. It is the follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017), and will be available on the Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023.
