Nintendo Direct: Will 'Breath of the Wild 2' Be at the Presentation?

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (commonly abbreviated to BOTW2) was announced all the way back at E3 2019. Since then, fans have heard very little from Nintendo about the hotly anticipated release, to the point where it has actually become a source of great frustration.

Every time the publisher hosts a press conference or a video stream, the live chat is guaranteed to be flooded with comments demanding news about the game, often with walls of text that just say "BOTW2" over and over again.

The exasperation is understandable, as Nintendo continually teases updates about Breath of the Wild's long-gestating sequel, only to deliver the vaguest bulletins imaginable. For example, during their most recent "Direct" presentation in February (which even coincided with Zelda's 35^th anniversary), the company repeatedly instructed viewers to stick around for news on Breath of the Wild 2. In the end, this turned out to just be the announcement that they would be giving another, better announcement later on in the year.

For many, it felt like an elaborate case of trolling on the publisher's part, as they essentially led players on for nearly 50 minutes to reveal nothing about the game they tuned in for. As such, fans are optimistically hoping that today's Nintendo Direct will make up for this disappoint with a detailed showcase—and maybe even a release date announcement.

If it were not for Nintendo's track record in this area, it would be entirely reasonable to assume that Breath of the Wild is going to be making an appearance at this morning's Direct presentation. After all, they did promise that an update was coming soon, it is still the year of Zelda's landmark 35^th anniversary, and there is residual hype left over from the E3 weekend. Yet everyone made a similar prediction about the last conference in February and that turned out to be dead wrong.

In terms of more concrete evidence that we will finally be getting more Breath of the Wild information this morning, there have been a number of leaks circulating online. The first comes from Serkan Toto, a reputable analyst for Kantan Games, who cryptically quote-retweeted Nintendo's promotional materials for the Direct with: "Z2 22".

This led to many in the thread inferring that the industry expert has knowledge about the game coming out in 2022 and that the official announcement will be featured in the Direct. Generally, Nintendo only have four of these conferences each year and we have already had one of in 2021, so the news is bound to come soon if the game is truly launching next year.

Newsweek has contacted Dr Toto for a comment, and he responded with: "For various reasons, I cannot comment more than what I tweeted back then".

Elsewhere, YouTuber Spawn Wave (whose real name is Jonathan Downey) also tweeted about Zelda news potentially dropping today, after hearing rumors that GameStop will soon be holding a special Nintendo-themed event in their stores. The existence of such an event is corroborated by a number of reliable industry trackers, who have also hinted at something similar in their regular updates about console availability.

Of course, just because there is a Nintendo event on the horizon at GameStop does not guarantee that it is Breath of the Wild 2-related, as we do know that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD will be getting a remaster on the Switch next month. Newsweek has contacted Spawn Wave for comment but, at the time of publication, has not received a response.

In addition to Breath of the Wild 2, fans are also looking forward to updates on Mario Golf: Super Rush, DLC for Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate, a rumored Donkey Kong Country sequel, Bayonetta 3, Splatoon 3 and maybe even a new Mario Kart if we are lucky.

Meanwhile, those hoping for a reveal of a Nintendo Switch Pro today might want to temper their expectations a bit, as Nintendo of America's official tweet about the Direct presentation does specify that it is focussed "exclusively" on upcoming software, and that it is only 40 minutes long.

The Direct will be livestreamed today at 12 p.m. ET on Nintendo's dedicated YouTube and Twitch channels. It will then be immediately followed by a three-hour "Nintendo Treehouse" showcase, which will go into more granular detail on any titles featured in the main presentation.