The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is one of the most anticipated games of 2022, and a tweet from The Game Awards’ host and producer Geoff Keighly has sparked rumors that a new trailer or release date for Breath of the Wild's sequel will be shown off at this year’s show on December 9. With only a couple of trailers out so far, the game has been kept tightly under wraps throughout its development, and even Breath of the Wild 2’s official title has yet to be announced. However, as The Legend of Zelda has a long history with The Game Awards, it’s possible that more news about this long-awaited game is just around the corner.
In his tweet, Geoff Keighly stated that he had just seen the final cut of a world premiere that The Game Awards had been working on with the developer for 2.5 years. Fans were quick to point out that Breath of the Wild 2 was originally announced 2.5 years ago at the 2019 E3 when the first teaser trailer was released, and speculation about whether or not he was referring to the highly-anticipated sequel began almost immediately. While many are convinced that this tweet teases the appearance of Breath of the Wild 2 at The Game Awards, Keighly has also stated that 2021 will be an unprecedented year for announcements, making it difficult to narrow down which game he could be referring to. However, 2.5 years is a long time for a trailer to be in the works, and since the time frame matches that of Breath of the Wild 2’s announcement and development, it seems likely that this tweet could be in reference to the next Zelda game.
With so little information out about Breath of the Wild's sequel, there’s a lot that Nintendo still has to reveal before its approaching release window of 2022. There’s no official release date yet, and the title of the game itself hasn’t been announced as Nintendo fears giving too much of the game’s premise away. Additionally, the trailers that have been released were both less than two minutes, though they contained plenty of details for fans to extensively analyze in the past months. However, despite there being so little known about what Breath of the Wild’s sequel will entail, Breath of the Wild 2 has been nominated for Most Anticipated Game alongside Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden Quest, and Starfield, and if Nintendo chose to reveal a trailer at this event, it would be almost guaranteed to steal the show.
The first Breath of the Wild won Game of the Year in 2017, but it also made several appearances at The Game Awards leading up to its release, leading fans to believe that Breath of the Wild 2 may follow a similar pattern. The then-unnamed Breath of the Wild was shown at The Game Awards in 2014, then again two years later during 2016’s Game Awards. Despite the fact that the game had already been shown in 2014’s E3, its reveal at the 2014 Game Awards was still classified as a world premiere, which means that Keighly’s tweet about a “world premiere” trailer could refer to Breath of the Wild 2 at The Game Awards 2021 even though two teasers have been released for the game already.
Additionally, Nintendo has never revealed a trailer for a new 3D Zelda game in Nintendo Directs outside of E3, which could make The Game Awards 2021 their last chance to showcase a major trailer before the game’s release. However, it’s still possible that Breath of the Wild 2 will release late in 2022, leaving Nintendo with plenty of chances to release more information about it throughout next year. On the other hand, The Game Awards’ viewership has dramatically increased over the last few years, going from 11 million views in 2017 when Breath of the Wild won Game of the Year to over 80 million views in 2020, and it would make sense for Nintendo to take the opportunity to show off and market their most highly anticipated game at this event regardless of which half of the year it will release.
Nintendo may also have limited options as to what they could choose to showcase at The Game Awards since many of their anticipated upcoming releases have been shown off much more recently than Breath of the Wild 2. Splatoon 3 and Bayonetta 3 were both featured in the September Direct, and with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Animal Crossing: New Horizons taking a backseat after their last major updates wrapped up this year, there aren’t many major titles left for Nintendo to feature at The Game Awards 2021.
It seems that revealing the release date for Breath of the Wild 2 at The Game Awards 2021 would not only fit the bill, but would make for a show-stopping reveal from Nintendo this year. While it’s possible that Nintendo could choose something else to bring to The Game Awards, Breath of the Wild 2’s nomination for Most Anticipated Game gives them the perfect chance to make an announcement about the game whether it is, in fact, a trailer, or if it’s the game’s official release date or even an official title.
However, some fans are hesitant to get their hopes up for a BOTW 2 release date or trailer, pointing to the fact that the last trailer for Breath of the Wild 2 was released only a few short months ago in June’s E3. It may be too soon for Nintendo to show any more content about the game, especially if it is released later in 2022. It’s also possible that Keighly’s tweet teases a different game, like Ghostwire: Tokyo or Hellblade 2, which have also been in development for a similar amount of time.
Still, if Keighly wasn’t referring to Breath of the Wild 2 in his tweet, that doesn’t rule out the possibility of the game being featured at The Game Awards anyway, as he has also stated that 40-50 games would be featured in one way or another. With so many titles making a potential appearance, it’s as hard to rule The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 out as it is to confirm its inclusion.
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