Back in 2017, the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the Nintendo Switch became a landmark moment for gaming. Years passed with fans clamoring for a sequel, which would subsequently be delayed from 2022 until 2023. It was worth the wait, with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom surpassing all expectations and landing itself beside its predecessor as two of the greatest games of all time.
To celebrate the first anniversary of the game’s release, series producers Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi sat down for an interview with the Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream to give their thoughts.
The other day, I heard about an incident when a kid excitedly said “I played Tears of the Kingdom for over 1,000 hours”, and the mother smiled in response, saying, “I didn’t know about that!” Of course, I was shocked that one could play a single game that much, but I was also surprised that the mother accepted that,” Aonuma said.
“There are a lot of people around me who happily tell me about how they played this game for many hours, and I am really glad to have made a game that people enjoyed like that.”
Fujibayashi was particularly happy about the success of the Ultrahand mechanic and the fanbase’s creativity.
“In particular, the Ultrahand, one of the new features added that allows you to attach and detach objects together at will, has continued to lead to unique vehicles and creations that we had never imagined; this has made me feel that we succeeded in implementing one of the core concepts we had been aiming for.
To have our game be played so much is an irreplaceable source of motivation to the development staff. Thank you very much.”
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released on May 12, 2023. The game sold more than 10 million copies within three days of its release and over 20 million copies by March 2024.
