2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild might have divided purists, but it was arguably the most original game in the franchise and easily one of the most influential titles to release within the past few years. Because of this, fans have been eagerly awaiting more news about the game's sequel after Nintendo released an official trailer earlier this year. As 2021 comes to a close, Nintendo was yet to announce more details about the unnamed Breath of the Wild sequel - until now.

Even if Nintendo hasn't released official word yet, one credible source claims to know when Breath of the Wild 2 is going to release.

We're potentially less than a year away from Breath of the Wild

Breath of the Wild 2 has been in development for years. We also know that Nintendo might have just patented some of the game's mechanics. Finally, we know that it's coming in 2022. The only question now is when. Not to mention, fans are worried about a potential delay because Nintendo didn't announce anything about the game at TGA 2021. If so, it would be understandable. It wouldn't be the first game to be pushed back in recent memory, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Having said that, one Nintendo insider claims to know when the game is going to be released and that it's not going to be delayed.

In an episode of the Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, IGN's co-founder Peer Schneider mentioned that he's spoken to Nintendo employees about the company's plans for 2022. He didn't go into much detail about what Nintendo has in store for fans next year, but he did reassure everyone not to worry about the lack of a new trailer at The Game Awards 2021.

Later in the podcast, Schneider mentioned that November will be "when we're playing Breath of the Wild 2." This implies that Nintendo will have already released the game by then or it'll be close to its launch by the time November 2022 rolls around.

Of course, Schneider is not from Nintendo. But, at the same time, he is the co-founder of one of the largest video game news websites in the world, so his words should carry some weight.

Ultimately, we already know that Nintendo plans to release Breath of the Wild 2, or whatever its final name is, sometime in 2022. Even if it does release in November 2022 or December 2022, it's still well within the release window. It's best that we take Schneider's word with a grain of salt and just sit tight for Nintendo to confirm the game's release date and official name on their own.

TLDR; we should just assume that Breath of the Wild 2 will release within the next 12 months.

In the meantime, The Legend of Zelda fans can keep themselves busy with re-runs of the older games. We ranked The Legend of Zelda games from the worst to the best so that you know where to start if you're new to the series.