The Legend Of Zelda New Open-World Game Details Appear Online

Nintendo Published Sep 4, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC. Sign in to your ScreenRant account With The Legend of Zelda celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, thoughts have understandably turned to what's coming next for the beloved fantasy series. Previous intimations from Nintendo made it seem as though the Wilds era of the last two games could be drawing to a close, and in fairness, it did feel like fans were ready for something new. That said, without any concrete information from the developer, the conversation has quickly turned to rumors and speculation, and those suggest that we may not be done with the current era at all. In fact, the next game could be considerably more familiar than anyone waiting in the wings was expecting. As first reported by GameRant, Episode 294 of the Xbox Era Podcast saw Shpeshal Nick and Jeff Grubb discuss what the former had heard from his sources about the next mainline open-world Zelda game. The headline take away from the perspective of those who wanted the series to move into a new era is that Nick claims it will operate via the same world and engine as Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, though there have been a handful of improvements from the past few years. That would, in turn, mean that exploration and gameplay would feel immediately similar to the last two games in the series, with one major caveat. The next Zelda game is almost certainly going to be a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, which would allow the games to take advantage of the improved hardware to up the levels on display for players. The other particularly interesting claim is that the game could involve cross-dimensional gameplay, with different dimensions affecting one another. Mechanically, players would navigate these dimensions via tears in reality, though what exactly that would look like remains unclear. There's also no word on whether this would be a direct sequel in a narrative sense, or if it would just draw on the same locations and features to create that sense of continuity. Whatever Nintendo does decide to do with the next mainline game, there are still plenty of other exciting projects tied to the Legend of Zelda franchise coming down over the next year or so. The first is the Ocarina of Time Remake, which is set to release later this year, while the official movie adaptation is also on the way in 2027, with production on that continuing apace. Released March 3, 2017 ESRB E for Everyone: Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Suggestive Themes Developer(s) Nintendo EPD Publisher(s) Nintendo Engine Havok Cross-Platform Play no Cross Save no Franchise The Legend of Zelda Steam Deck Compatibility yes