In the past few months, we’ve heard several reports suggesting that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — the first major game in development for the Nintendo Switch — would not be launching alongside the console due to issues with localization. It appears that these issues were not as time-consuming as initially thought, as multiple new reports have stated that the game will release day-and-date with the Switch in March.
On January 2, Let’s Play Video Games’ Laura Kate Dale reversed a previous Breath of the Wild report she had published stating that the game would be delayed until early summer — according to her source, Zelda would launch, at least in North America, along with the Nintendo Switch, and she had “seen finalized materials” to back this up.
Dale added that her sources in Europe asserted that the game would launch in June, and that this could have been to a Europe-specific delay, or one that affected the Wii U version but not the Nintendo Switch.
Eurogamer’s report seems to corroborate Dale, as well. While Nintendo of Europe was pushing for greater localization time, and subsequently the June release date, the Japanese division asserted that the Switch needed “the strongest possible launch lineup.” As it stands now, this means that the North American and Japanese releases are expected for March, while Europe could be later as it translates the game into several languages.
The decision to keep Breath of the Wild as a launch title is likely due, at least in part, to several other Switch titles releasing later in the year. Dale also reported that the Mario-Rabbids RPG, titled Rabbids Battle Kingdom, could be out as late as September, while a Rayman Legends port will launch in the second quarter of 2017. Ubisoft’s other major Switch game, Beyond Good & Evil 2, will reportedly be a console exclusive for a year before making its way to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
