The next Legend Of Zelda game may end up being a spin-off by the creators of Xenoblade Chronicles, according to comments from Nintendo.
While it’s still far too early for the Nintendo Switch 2 to get its first mainline Legend Of Zelda game (spin-off Hyrule Warriors most certainly does not count), Nintendo must’ve at least started designing it.
Series producer Eiji Aonuma has already ruled out a return to the original formula, but he’s also said that he’ll be moving on from the setting and characters of Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom, for a new iteration of Hyrule. In other words, it’s impossible to guess what’s coming next.
If we’re lucky, Nintendo may formally reveal something next year but it could easily be a longer wait than that. However, new comments suggest a future Zelda spin-off game will be spearheaded by Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolith Soft.
Even if you’re unfamiliar with the studio, you’ve likely already played something it’s worked on. Ever since Nintendo acquired Monolith in 2007, it’s not only developed the Xenoblade series but also served as a reliable support studio on the likes of Splatoon and Animal Crossing.
It’s frequently assisted with the Zelda series, starting with 2011’s Skyward Sword and eventually helping with the world design for Breath Of The Wild. It also worked on Mario Kart World and has become Nintendo’s go-to expert for anything open world related.
Zelda series general manager Daiki Iwamoto must be very pleased with Monolith’s contributions as he’s said that he wants the studio to become more involved and take on a ‘central role’ for a future game.
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This comes from an interview published on Monolith’s own website, where Iwamoto (as translated by GamesRadar) describes the studio as a ‘strong partner’ when it comes to developing Zelda games from scratch.
‘And more and more I would like to see them taking on a central role in production. Going forward, let’s use the know-how we’ve developed by working together, and the strength of the whole Monolith Soft team, to create a unique title in the series together.’
Not only is Monolith unlikely to be given a mainline entry to work on – those games are handled by Nintendo EPD – but the phrase ‘unique title’ implies a spin-off of some kind.
The obvious assumption is that the game would feature an open world environment. If the next mainline game is another reinvention of the franchise, then perhaps Monolith will be tasked with evolving the Breath Of The Wild formula further with a side game.
Monolith is also currently busy with its next role-playing game (presumably Xenoblade 4 or a spiritual successor), but the studio is divided into three teams – one for internal development in Tokyo, a separate support team in Tokyo, and another support team in Kyoto.
In terms of manpower that’s enough to work on two big games at once but it depends on Nintendo’s priorities.
Nintendo would ideally have something Zelda related to coincide with the live action movie in 2027, but the next mainline game will never be ready for that. However, it’s unclear if work has actually begun on Monolith’s spin-off and if that could be ready in time.
While it didn’t have a new game ready for the release of the Super Mario Bros. movie in 2023, Super Mario Bros. Wonder did launch later that year and Nintendo believes the movie’s popularity helped boost the game’s sales.
To promote next year’s Super Mario Galaxy movie, Nintendo’s already re-released both Super Mario Galaxy games. So, we’realmost guaranteed to see some kind of Zelda game in 2027.
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