When The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom dropped earlier this year, it left fans and critics alike slack jawed with its expansive sky, surface, and subterranean realms. The game emerged as a crown jewel in Nintendo’s lineup, racking up 18 million copies in sales in just two months, and was even heralded as a Game of the Year contender.
With such numbers, it wouldn’t be irrational to expect a DLC or two, a path Nintendo took with its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, which received two significant expansion packs. However, in a recent Famitsu interview, the long-time Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi have poured cold water on these expectations.
Aonuma told Famitsu that he’s “done everything” there is to do in this incarnation of Hyrule, a vast world built atop and beneath the original “Breath of the Wild” landscape. Notably, he and Fujibayashi orchestrated a vast underground realm that they had initially kept under wraps before the game’s release. They took massive steps to the ensure players could move seamlessly between the sky islands and the labyrinthine underworld – a feature that was concealed in pre-release promotions.
There will be no DLC for The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom!
"We have no plans to release additional content this time, but that is because we feel like we have done all we can do to create play in that world" – Zelda TOTK Producer, Eiji Aonumahttps://t.co/1SmvIwPl21 pic.twitter.com/Xxxowea2AS
— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) September 6, 2023
The numbers suggest that an expansion for Tears of the Kingdom could practically print money; there’s likely another billion dollars just waiting to be siphoned off from an ardent fanbase. Yet, Nintendo remains resolute in its decision. “I feel like we’ve done everything we can to create fun in that world,” Aonuma clarified. Fujibayashi echoed the sentiment, revealing he’s already turning his creative juices toward “the next fun experience.”
The development duo doesn’t explicitly rule out a return to the Hyrule of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. If “new reasons arise,” they might revisit this iteration of Hyrule, but it would most likely be in the form of a new game entirely with different gameplay mechanics. This seems aligned with the lifecycle of the Nintendo Switch, which is close to ending with a successor, which reportedly performs as well as a PS5, expected in 2024. For whatever comes next, the focus will be on an entirely “new experience,” potentially marking a new chapter for the Zelda series.
In the meantime, fans are speculating about the addition of a new “Master Mode” or other similar hardcore challenges for Tears of the Kingdom, similar to what Breath of the Wild received post-launch.
Unfortunately, Aonuma’s latest comments make it likely that an expansion isn’t happening. This new deviates from their earlier strategy, where Breath of the Wild featured substantial post-launch DLC, including The Master Trials and The Champions’ Ballad, which expanded the game’s story and universe.
In the grander scheme, Tears of the Kingdom sits as the second-biggest Nintendo launch of all time, shadowed only by Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s record of over 20.61 million sales in six weeks. It’s the fastest-selling Nintendo game in the Americas and Europe, and with the holiday season closing in, these numbers are expected to rise. But, Nintendo’s vision for this title is complete, and rather than milking it for more, the developers are staking their claim on unexplored territory, fueling curiosity about what might come next.
Even if they never revisit this Hyrule, Aonuma and his team appear to welcome the immense expectations to do “even more amazing” things in the next adventure. So, while the absence of DLC might seem like a missed opportunity to some, it might actually be a liberating moment for a franchise that never shies away from redefining itself.
