Nintendo Files a Series of Lucrative Patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is no doubt a monumental success. It quickly became the best-selling title in the series and is gradually climbing the ladder to be the best-selling game on Nintendo Switch. This kind of success does not come with a brand name alone. A lot of things play an important role in attracting people to such titles.

The biggest aspect is gameplay mechanics; fans are engaged in such games thanks to their mechanics. The core gameplay loop is what keeps them playing. Sometimes these things are so unique that developers simply decide to go ahead and patent them.

Nintendo has decided to patent a bunch of things related to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Getting something patented means that no one else can use your property without your permission. You can legally put a stop to any such use as well. There was a time when Namco Bandai patented the idea of including mini-games on loading screens. They themselves never used it again and let it die.

Now, Nintendo has decided to go ahead and patent a bunch of gameplay mechanics from their recently launched title, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The game features a bunch of unique mechanics, for sure. It offers an open playground that is inspiring players to find unique ways of doing things. But there’s another reason why Nintendo has decided to patent the new Zelda title’s gameplay mechanics.

In 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild became such a monumental success that people were pretty much in awe of it. The game set so many new sales records and became a trailblazer. Many other developers took inspiration from it and started developing their game worlds around the kind of freedom it offered its players. The best example of a similar gameplay design is Elden Ring.

Some developers, on the other hand, decided to do exactly what Nintendo did. Games like Genshin Impact and Immortals Fenyx Rising looked exactly like Breath of the Wild and cashed in on its success. Maybe this is what enticed Nintendo to take such a step. Maybe they do not want to see their work turned into a mediocre video game by some random developer.

Read more: Top Gameplay Features We Wish Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Borrowed From Its Prequel

If that’s the case, there’s no denying the fact that they did the right thing here.

Watch this story: PlayStation Unleashes a Quirky Competitor: Introducing the Epic Rival for Nintendo Switch 2 at PlayStation Showcase 2023!