The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom DLC Shot Down by Nintendo

Those at Nintendo in charge of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have debunked the possibility of DLC releasing in the future. Since releasing back in May, Tears of the Kingdom has gone on to be a smash hit for Nintendo. As of this past month, Nintendo announced that its latest Zelda game has already reached 18 million units sold, which is staggering, to say the least. Despite selling at such a high rate, though, it seems that Nintendo doesn't want to look to release DLC and is instead focused on how to next evolve the Zelda franchise in the future. 

During a recent conversation with Japanese publication Famitsu, longtime producer and director of The Legend of Zelda, Eiji Aonuma, was asked about the potential for additional content in Tears of the Kingdom. In short, Aonuma said that DLC isn't something that is being considered because many of the ideas that the development team wanted to implement in the follow-up to Breath of the Wild are already in the game. Instead, Aonuma noted that those working on the franchise are trying to think of "a completely new way to play" Zelda titles. If that results in a new game set within the same world of Hyrule, then so be it, but DLC doesn't seem to be in the cards for now. 

"There are no plans to release additional content this time, but that's because I feel like I've done everything I can to create games in that world," Aonuma said. "The reason why we chose this as a sequel to the previous game is because we thought there would be value in experiencing a new kind of play in that place in Hyrule. Then, if such a reason is newly born, it may return to the same world again. Whether it's a sequel or a new work, I think it will be a completely new way to play, so I'd be happy if you could look forward to it."

What's Next For The Legend of Zelda? 

Given that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has now finally been released, it's hard to know what Nintendo might do next with the series. As Aonuma noted, those at Nintendo are clearly mulling over ideas for the next Zelda game, but that title's arrival is surely many years away. With this in mind, we surely won't see another wholly new Zelda project until Nintendo's next console is released. 

In the interim, though, Nintendo likely won't let The Legend of Zelda sit on ice for a period of multiple years. In fact, rumors and reports have circled for quite a long time in regard to remasters of both The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. And even if these long-requested remasters never end up coming about, there's always the chance that Nintendo could look to remake another previous installment in the series as it did with The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening back in 2019.