10 days before its arrival, Nintendo had the bad surprise to discover that its entire game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the kingdom had already leaked on the internet, copies having been sold illegally.
Six years that fans have been waiting for it and the least we can say is that some are extremely impatient. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom does not officially come out until May 12, but clever little guys managed to get their hands on the new opus almost two weeks before and did not fail to let it be known.
While some were content to play arguably quietly at home after picking up the game from the store a little too soon, others bragged as they began streaming entire footage of Link’s new adventures on Twitch, revealing including information that Nintendo had wanted to keep secret.
Discord sued
But that’s probably not what gave the Japanese giant the most cold sweats, which quickly suspended broadcasts. Quickly, files of the game appeared on forums, allowing players to fully download the future Nintendo Switch star game to play before its release. On Reddit and Discord servers, screenshots have been shared, along with short cutscenes and gameplay footage, including the opening ones with the first regions of Tears of the Kingdom. Something to spoil any suspense or surprise if you come across it.
There is no doubt that the reaction of Big N will be proportional to the financial and moral damage suffered, the culture of secrecy being intense within the company. At the beginning of April, the leaks of some images of an artbook which must accompany the game had prompted Nintendo to sue Discord in order to obtain the contact details of the culprit. The penalties could be much higher this time.
37 years of successful rides in Hyrule
To understand the enthusiasm, even the madness surrounding the arrival of the next episode of The Legend of Zelda, we have to go back to 1986 when Shigeru Miyamoto had the idea of giving life to Link, a character at the crossroads between Peter Pan and an elf, in landscapes reminding him of his childhood in the countryside of Kyoto. Its hero must fight against his eternal enemy, Ganondorf, and free the kingdom of Hyrule as well as the famous Princess Zelda (whose name is a tribute to the wife of the novelist Francis Scott Fitgerald known for her great beauty). In Tears of the Kingdom, Link would once again have to face that same Ganondorf or his bestial form, Ganon. But Nintendo had done everything to keep its true scenario a secret, giving only snippets of information over its announcement videos.
Since the first eponymous title and before the arrival of the next opus, the saga The Legend of Zelda has 19 episodes in the true line, with additional derivative episodes and remakes. In total, nearly 100 million games have been sold in 37 years. After the success of Breath of the Wild released in 2017 with the Nintendo Switch and which revolutionized the series with an open world and more versatility, Tears of the Kingdom should go a long way towards increasing this total. Record sales are expected and enough to further panic the counters.
While the game doesn’t look quite as groundbreaking in form and graphics, Nintendo has already hinted that the enhanced abilities of its hero (who appears to be able to transform into water to pass through stone and other surfaces), the arrival of new game mechanics, will contribute to make it a pivotal episode, much darker too.
