Nintendo’s New Zelda Game, Tears of the Kingdom, Is Set to Debut May 12
Miyamoto #Miyamoto
Cecilia D’Anastasio, Bloomberg
Sep. 13, 2022
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Image courtesy of Nintendo
(Bloomberg) — Nintendo Co. announced the title for the next highly anticipated game in one of its bestselling franchises — The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It will be available May 12.
The Zelda series, originally created by Nintendo former general manager Shigeru Miyamoto, has long been iconic among gaming fans worldwide and in the US, the Japanese company’s largest market. The last title in the series, Breath of the Wild, was released in tandem with the Switch’s debut in March 2017. The game helped drive the gadget’s launch sales and so far has sold more than 27 million copies. Earlier this year Nintendo delayed the release of the next installment in the Zelda series to 2023, sending its shares tumbling.
The news was the highlight of a 45-minute video presentation to tease Nintendo’s upcoming titles this fall and into next year. Other announcements included Fire Emblem: Engage, Octopath Traveler 2 and Pikmin 4, which will be released in 2023. The Super Mario Bros. movie, starring Chris Pratt as the voice of the iconic Italian plumber, will be coming in the Spring, Miyamoto announced.
Nintendo has a strong stable of games lined up for the holiday period as it seeks to extend the life of the Switch. The recently released family-friendly online shooter game Splatoon 3 became the biggest Switch debut to date, selling 3.45 million units in Japan over its opening weekend. The shares surged 5.5% in Tokyo on Tuesday, their biggest jump since December 2020. The company is also betting on its Pokémon franchise to keep up momentum into the new year.
The slate of anticipated releases could help boost disappointing sales at Nintendo, which has been struggling with manufacturing bottlenecks that have affected Switch sales. Nintendo, whose flagship console can be used both at home and on the move, has also suffered from the reversal of stay-at-home demand during the pandemic. Still, the company has stuck to its forecast of selling 21 million units of the handheld-hybrid Switch console, down from 23 million in the previous year.
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