The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has become one of the most anticipated and mysterious titles of 2022. Although the game saw a reveal teaser in E3 2021, Nintendo has since starved fans of any significant details on the sequel. A positive development in this saga was the promise of a 2022 release date for Breath of the Wild’s next iteration. This came courtesy of Nintendo’s investor presentation.

However, YouTube channel SwitchForce took notice of a curious turn of events. Their recent video details why a massive Nintendo announcement has the potential to derail hopes for a 2022 release of BOTW 2.

Nintendo could delay Breath of the Wild 2

The Pokemon Company has a colossal announcement for its fans. They announced a brand new Pokemon title would grace Nintendo’s titular handheld in late 2022. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are open-world adventure titles with lots of surprises for fans of the franchise. But for fans of Zelda, the surprise could be an unfortunate one.

Zach from SwitchForce notes that the title is a humongous bestseller that would see a probable release in November. This would also fall in line with previous Pokemon entries. However, how does this impact BOTW 2?

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Zach elaborates mainline Pokemon titles take a lot of marketing space, mind share, and money from Switch owners. Given this observation, it calls into question the status of the rest of Nintendo’s releases this year.

“As much of a good thing as it was that Pokemon got a brand new generation yesterday, it seems like it’s sort of a dagger to some of the hopes of Zelda…,” he said.

As a result, if Zelda needs to be delayed, then Pokemon can swoop into its release spot later this year. This also squashes hopes of Zelda seeing a holiday release as the Pokemon title is guaranteed to move a lot of units.

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Another downer for Zelda fans is Nintendo’s packed release schedule. The video games giant is putting out three major open world titles- Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and BOTW 2 in 2022. And while their investor report states otherwise, Nintendo could save one of these massive titles for a later release.

This becomes more likely when considering that titles like Splatoon 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, and even Mario Kart DLC could release this year.

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