Those of us who went out and purchased a Nintendo Switch on launch day probably did it mainly for one title – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. For good reason, too. The game has been a smash-hit ever since its March 2017 release. With a 97% score on Metacritic, and having multiple awards (The Game Award for Game of the Year, The Game Award for Most Anticipated Game, BAFTA Games Award for Innovation, The Game Award for Best Action/Adventure, & The Game Award for Best Studio/Game Direction), it would be SHOCKING if Nintendo simply let this title be a one-off.

Well, gamers may not have to worry, as Nintendo’s Japanese website has announced that the developer is looking to hire folks for a new 3D Legend of Zelda game. They have already posted two job descriptions for this endeavor: a level designer, and a 3D computer graphics designer. The game development is set to be based at Nintendo’s Kyoto, Japan headquarters, and the designers that they hire would be working on concept art, dungeon and level layouts, enemy AI, terrain design, and more. Take a look at a translated portion of the job posting:

Now, this kind of news should not surprise anyone, really. I mean, The Legend of Zelda has been a beloved franchise for Nintendo for 32 years (the first The Legend of Zelda game was released for the NES in February of 1986), and it just makes sense that the company would want to piggyback on the success of Breath of the Wild by making a follow-up offering. Additionally, Nintendo has previously stated that development of all new Zelda titles begins almost immediately after wrapping up the previous title.

All of this being said, this news does make gamers wonder: What will this new title look like? What will it bring to the table? It’s no secret that some LoZ fans have been champing at the bit for the series to return to its top-down view roots, but with today’s gamers being used to certain styles, it’s a far better bet that the upcoming game will feature more of the same sort of PoV as Breath of the Wild. Consider this: a title of that scope would use a LOT of the Nintendo Switch’s resources, and it would give Nintendo (as a developer) the opportunity to continue with a formula that they already know is a winner.

 

There’s also another possibility in the works here, though. It’s still entirely feasible that, rather than a new full game, Nintendo is back to creating more DLC for Breath of the Wild. With the release of The Champion’s Ballad DLC back in December of 2017 being another big hit for Nintendo and the Legend of Zelda franchise, it would stand to reason that Nintendo may want to stick with DLC on this one.

While a lot of this is still speculation, we do know that what Nintendo is hiring for is definitely Legend of Zelda content. What that entails is still mostly unknown (other than what we’ve detailed here). As the internet and gamers are wont to do, however, speculation and hype will always be present; and those of us who are die-hard Legend of Zelda fans can always have hope for a new full-blown Breath of the Wild title.

What say you, dear readers? Do you want to see a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or are you hoping for a new title altogether? Let us know in the comments down below, and stay tuned to Pop Culture Uncovered for more details as they become available.