Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 is one of the most highly anticipated Nintendo Switch games on the horizon, but those hoping for an update on it have been dealt a blow. The last time the House of Mario held a major reveal for Breath of the Wild 2 was – well – when they announced the new Zelda game back at E3 2019. It had been hoped that more footage of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 would feature at last December’s Game Awards event.
However, while TGA had plenty of big announcements there was nothing about the next Zelda game coming to the Switch.
It seems that the most likely place we will find out more about BoTW 2 will be in the next major Nintendo Direct.
This was thought to be taking place in June, with Nintendo typically dropping a major Direct during E3 week.
With E3 2020 cancelled this year there were still hopes that Ninty could hold a big Direct broadcast around that time.
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Nintendo Direct DELAY: Fears June 2020 stream could be pushed back
Especially considering that the first-party release schedule for the Switch for the second half of 2020 is empty.
This is likely because Ninty has some big surprises in store for Q3 and Q4 for the Switch, which they want to keep under wraps for the time being.
Anticipation is high for the next Nintendo Direct, where we should find out more plans about the 2020 Switch release schedule – and possibly an update on BoTW 2.
However, latest reports have indicated that Nintendo will not be holding a Nintendo Direct for June 2020. The news comes courtesy of VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb who previously correctly revealed Nintendo’s Direct plans for March.
Grubb correctly revealed that Nintendo were planning an indie Direct followed by a more comprehensive broadcast. And the GamesBeat journalist also correctly pinpointed the weeks in March these streams were happening before Nintendo officially announced it.
Admittedly, Grubb did say Nintendo were planning a Direct for March – and not a Direct Mini as it turned out to be.
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But this was a Direct Mini all-but in name, with the broadcast clocking in not much shorter than last September’s full fat Direct.
Given Grubb’s previous track record, his latest report about Nintendo’s Direct plans for June have caught the attention of plenty of Switch fans.
In a post on VentureBeat Grubb revealed that the coronavirus pandemic has led to plans for a June Direct being scrapped.
And the article added that the Nintendo Direct may now be as far away as the “end of summer”.
The VentureBeat article said: “Nintendo was putting together a June event. The company was lining up partners and was planning to unveil its first-party schedule for the rest of 2020. That included highlighting the Mario franchise’s 35th anniversary, which it’s going to celebrate with the release of some classic 3D Mario games on Switch, according to various reports.
“But now, the company is far less certain. If it holds another Direct, it may not come until the very end of summer.”
If that’s the case then the next update from Nintendo on Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 may be coming over a year after the game was initially revealed.
The silver lining to all of this is by holding their summer Direct later than anticipated it gives Ninty flexibility over how to fill their Q3 and Q4 schedule.
Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 was initially rumoured to be pencilled in as the big holiday 2020 release for the Switch.
However, later leaks indicated development was taking longer than anticipated which could lead to BoTW 2 being pushed back till 2021.
But this radio silence over what Nintendo has planned for the second half of the year gives them flexibility over the launch plans for the next Zelda game.
If, come the end of summer, progress on the project is better than anticipated it gives Nintendo room to manoeuvre, and potentially announce it as a 2020 title.
The downside to this is it also means we won’t know for quite a while when BoTW 2 will launch for certain, with an agonising wait in store for fans.
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