Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom always planned to re-use Hyrule from Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda creator Eiji Aonuma and game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi revealed that Nintendo was always planning on re-using the Hyrule created in Breath of the Wild for their upcoming release, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of 2023. Whenever a new Zelda title launches, it’s always a special time for the gaming world. The franchise, which is now almost 30 years old, has been a staple for Nintendo, with each and every game in the series beloved by fans.

However, the 2015 Zelda title, Breath of the Wild, was a complete game changer for the franchise as the first open-world adventure. The dev team bringing the iconic location of Hyrule to life like never before.

In an interview direct from Nintendo, series producer Eiji Aonuma and game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi confirmed that the Zelda team always planned on using Hyrule from Breath of the Wild again for Tears of the Kingdom.

“Just like somewhere you know inside and out, we understand where everything is in Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and because of that, we believed it was possible to create new gameplay,” began director Hidemaro Fujibayashi. 

“For this reason, in the initial proposal, we clearly stated ‘the setting will not change’ as an important concept. Even when I shared this with the team members here, there were no objections, and we were all aligned on that idea from that point onward.”

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will update Hyrule and bring it to the sky

This isn’t the first time Nintendo has done something like this with the Zelda franchise. After the success of their first 3D adventure The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the company quickly followed up with the sequel, Majora’s Mask. 

Similar to BOTW and TotK, these two games feature the same version of Link and included the same characters, designs, and graphics. However, while Majora’s Mask took Link to a different location in Termina, Tears of the Kingdom will have players revisiting the same Hyrule.

Regardless, the upcoming game has well and truly done its best to update the land of Hyrule. Now, players will be able to explore the sky and land above, create vehicles to travel around, and much more.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is set to release on May 12. Be sure to check back in with Dexerto for our full coverage of the next big Nintendo release.

For now, check out some of our early guides and coverage for Tears of the Kingdom below:

All new enemies in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | How to access sky islands in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Do weapons still break in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? | What is Ascend in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? | Where to pre-order The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Are there Shrines in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom