Report: Nintendo Is Hard At Work On A Legend Of Zelda Mobile Game

Following its work on the Super Mario Run mobile game (which is still doing pretty well, despite not earning as much as hoped), Nintendo is pushing forward with bringing yet another franchise to iOS and Android – and this time, it's The Legend of Zelda.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the mobile version of the series is already in development, according to people familiar with the project. It's the latest expansion in the company's mobile game line-up, including the popular Miitomo, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes and a forthcoming Animal Crossing game, which should release this summer. Legend of Zelda will then follow later in the year, according to the report.

There is a possibility that the dates for these releases could change, depending on how Nintendo sees the mobile market. After all, The Legend of Zelda is a very hot property right now, with Breath of the Wild, the latest game in the series, selling very well on Wii U and Nintendo Switch. (In fact, more units of the game are selling than the Nintendo Switch hardware itself, which is a bit odd.)

Now the only question is what Nintendo will do in terms of pricing. Super Mario Run's core game is currently free-to-play, but to get all the levels unlocked, users must pay a premium price of $9.99 – something a lot of players have balked at, considering the game's simplistic nature. The Legend of Zelda could follow a similar structure, though Nintendo might have something else in mind, considering Run's meager performance compared to expectations.

So far, Nintendo's mobile division has made a decent amount of money, around 20 billion yen ($176.4 million), but Nintendo was hoping it would fare better. At least Fire Emblem is helping the community thrive, and Zelda, if given the proper structure, could easily follow suit. Of course, it's not likely to be as popular as a juggernaut as Pokemon Go!, but there's just no telling.

We'll probably find out what Nintendo's structured mobile plans are next month (it had no comment at the time of the report), when the company will provide a series of updates from the Electronic Entertainment Expo, both through a pre-show presentation via the Internet, and live Treehouse updates straight from the show floor.