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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 2023
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a 2023 action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo EPD for the Nintendo Switch. Players control Link as he seeks Princess Zelda and battles to stop Ganondorf from destroying Hyrule. The game maintains the open-world style and setting of its predecessor, Breath of the Wild (2017), while presenting new areas such as floating islands and an extensive underground zone known as the Depths. It adds construction features that let players build tools to help with combat or exploration.
EPD started working on Tears of the Kingdom after finishing Breath of the Wild, with director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and producer Eiji Aonuma returning to their roles. The game’s mechanics came from concepts initially considered for Breath of the Wild’s downloadable content but were too ambitious to include. EPD took inspiration from social media feedback to design systems that promote experimentation. Influences included Wii Sports Resort (2009), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011), and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), aiming for a title similar to but different from Breath of the Wild.
Nintendo first introduced Tears of the Kingdom with a preview at E3 2019, followed by a full presentation at E3 2021. It launched on May 12, 2023, earning praise for its larger world, new systems, scale, and narrative, although frame rate issues were noted. Within three days of release, it sold over 10 million copies, reaching 22.71 million by June 2026, making it the Switch’s eighth-best-selling title. An upgraded version released for the Nintendo Switch 2 in June 2025, and a spin-off titled Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment appeared in November 2025.
Trailer
Plays from YouTube only after you click.
Crew
- Director
- Hidemaro Fujibayashi
- Designer
- Yohei Fujino, Yasutaka Takeuchi, Mari Shirakawa
- Programmer
- Takuhiro Dohta, Takahiro Okuda
- Artist
- Satoru Takizawa
- Producer
- Eiji Aonuma
- Music
- Manaka Kataoka, Maasa Miyoshi, Masato Ohashi, Tsukasa Usui
Details
- Developer
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Platforms
- Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
- Modes
- Single-player
- Series
- The Legend of Zelda
