Good news, everyone!
Breath of the Wild 2 has been delayed again!
No, I mean it, that’s good news.
I know people are going to hit the dislike button a little harder than usual on this
video, and I accept that, but I genuinely think that delaying this game yet again is
going to be for the best.
If you’re feeling blue because you really had your hopes up that you would get to play
this game soon, you’re not alone.
Quite aside from the legions of other Zelda fans who are disappointed by this delay, the
fine folks at Nintendo also don’t want the game to be delayed, because, let’s be honest,
they want your money.
Longer delays means higher development costs, it means a gap in their release schedule,
it means grumpy investors.
As such, Nintendo would only delay Breath of the Wild 2 if they had a very good reason.
So let’s take a minute and just appreciate three the reasons why this delay is, actually,
a good thing.
Maybe some of these will seem very obvious to you, but then, bear in mind that there
are some people watching who might not have considered these things before.
Let’s go: #1 A delayed game means a more polished game
The old saying, often misattributed to Shigeru Miyamoto, is that a delayed game is eventually
good, but a rushed game is bad forever.
In our second ever video we celebrated the fact that Majora’s Mask, the first game
that Eiji Aonuma ever directed, was created in…give or take a single year, relying heavily
on art assets from Ocarina of Time.
It’s clear that Breath of the Wild 2 is not a Majora’s Mask.
This is a big undertaking, a significant reworking of what’s come before.
The team initially claimed that they would be reusing the map from the first Breath of
the Wild, but as time as gone on, it seems that they’ve expanded the cloudy region
of the game further and further.
I suspect there’s some scope creep, which is why the game keeps getting pushed back,
but do you know what?
The exact same thing happened with the first Breath of the Wild, and look how that turned
out.
#2 A delayed game means less crunch So, let’s not beat around the bush.
The games industry has a real problem with crunch.
Developers get pushed far too hard to create incredibly detailed, complex, immersive game
worlds, to the detriment of their health and personal lives.
Nintendo has, in the past, spoken out against crunch.
In 2019, the company announced a delay to the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons
specifically to avoid overworking developers.
Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser said of this delay:
“For us, one of our key tenets is that we bring smiles to people's faces, and we talk
about that all the time.
It's our vision.
Or our mission, I should say.
For us, that applies to our own employees.
We need to make sure that our employees have good work-life balance.”
This alone, to me, justifies the delay of Breath of the Wild 2.
If this means that some poor UI designer can stop looking at pictures of shields at a sensible
hour in the evening and go home to spend time with her kids, then the delay is worth it.
And if you’re the kind of person who just wants to play Breath of the Wild 2 now and
doesn’t really care about the wellbeing of the people making the game, let me ask
you this: do you honestly think that these developers will do their best work if they
are only sleeping for three hours a night?
#3 We Might Get Something Else Instead Now, with this point, I want you to take a
big big big pinch of salt, because there’s no guarantee that this will happen.
Last year, there were rumours – because of course there were rumours – that Nintendo
was preparing Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD Switch ports for release.
That obviously didn’t happen, which might be because the rumours were always nonsense,
but also might be because Nintendo saw the potential Breath of the Wild 2 delay coming
and held them back.
Either way, it really doesn’t matter, it’s not important.
We haven’t had these HD ports.
Yet.
Because now, Nintendo has a hole in the 2022 release lineup.
Something’s got to go in that hole, and that something is probably going to be Zelday.
And who knows what’s planned for this year?
Maybe Grezzo is working on Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons remakes.
Maybe an indie studio is doing another Cadence of Hyrule type thing.
Maybe there are already plans for something Zelda shaped.
Whatever happens, though, with no Breath of the Wild 2 in 2022, that means that something
else gets to shine.
Maybe it’ll be HD ports, maybe it’ll be something else.
I for one like the idea that there’ll be a surprise at some point this year.
It’s good to know that we don’t yet know what 2022 will hold, one way or the other.
Fingers crossed for Wind Waker on Switch, but that’s just me.
Now, I don’t want to make a video like this without pointing out that for some, this delay
is genuinely going to mean that they never play the game.
I’m aware of this, and if you’re for whatever reason not going to be playing games in 2023
– I’m not going to dwell on the many different reasons why that might be – I just want
you to know that I recognise that you have a genuine, legitimate reason to be upset.
In fact, anyone who feels frustrated about this delay is entitled to feel that way, go
ahead.
I’m just personally feel that, on the whole, the Zelda fandom will benefit from this delay.
I’m also willing to bet that there are plenty more reasons why this delay is a good thing,
which I look forward to reading about in the comments.
Have a great day, everyone.
Thank you for tolerating a somewhat different video today.