BeforeHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamitywas even announced, it wasn’t that unusual to think ofNintendo’s mashup ofThe Legend of ZeldaandDynasty Warriorsgetting multiple installments, thanks to the re-releases the original game got on the 3DS and the Switch. That said, despite the fact that it’s finally gotten its first proper sequel withAge of Calamity’s launch today, Nintendo saysHyrule Warriorsisn’t guaranteed to continue as a subseries.
Zeldaseries producer Eiji Aonuma andAge of Calamityproducer Yosuke Hayashi touched upon this when asked by IGN if there were any plans to continue developingWarriors-style games alongside mainline games like theupcoming sequel toBreath of the Wild. Aonuma’s response suggests that there isn’t, as he said, “I don’t think we’re expecting this to become a series.”
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Aonuma did state, though, that it’s still possible for a new game to end up happening, as he thinks that “circumstances could align” again like they did forHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. “We’d make that decision based on its creative merits, just like we did this time,” he explained. To which Hayashi added, “I think it depends on whether we get an idea that’ll make all the fans happy!”
This led to the question of how the idea for making the nextHyrule Warriorsgame a prequel toBreath of the Wildcame about. According to Aonuma,Breath of the Wild’s director, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, was the one who proposed it, as he figured the story of that game’s Great Calamity could only be told with aWarriors-style gameplay systemwhere players could confront Calamity Ganon’s armies head-on. Hayashi then explained that internal discussions prior to that had failed to come up with any good ideas for a new game, so it didn’t take long for Fujibayashi’s pitch to win Nintendo and Koei Tecmo over.
Outside ofHyrule Warriors, IGN asked Aonuma and Hayashi if Nintendo has any plan to increase the number ofZeldaspinoff titles between the mainline games. Echoing his previous answer, Aonuma stressed that Nintendo is focused on finding good ideas first and foremost, so ultimately the frequency of futureZeldatitles will depend on the alignment of “several different conditions” that the company doesn’t have much control over.
With the future ofHyrule Warriorsuncertain, it’s worth noting that if the series does end withAge of Calamity, at least it will be going out on a high note.Age of Calamityhas largely been met with praise from critics, with most agreeing that it’s a strong followup toHyrule Warriorsthat makes good use ofBreath of the Wild’s world and mechanics, resulting in one of the most engagingWarriors-style games of recent years.
