Breath of the Wild 2 release date leak offers credible insight on arrival

Nintendo’s biggest game in the pipeline right now is no doubt the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which remains pretty mysterious. However, recent hints from an unlikely source suggest the first credible insight we’ve seen regarding the game’s release date on the Nintendo Switch. Could Link’s next big open-world adventure be arriving reasonably soon? One trusted industry insider certainly thinks so.

Why Breath of the Wild 2 could be released in 2022

During an episode of IGN’s Nintendo Voice Chat podcast recorded in mid-December 2021, the outlet’s Chief Content Officer, Peer Schneider, had some interesting remarks about Nintendo's future development calendar following a basically nonexistent showing at The Game Awards 2021.

“I was able to hang out with some people in the industry afterward, and it does sound like Nintendo's going to have a pretty good year next year, so I would not take the absence of big stuff as a sign that maybe Breath of the Wild is delayed or they don't have other stuff,” he says. “It sounds like people at Nintendo are very, very excited about 2022."

Furthermore, when discussing the current lack of massive open-world games on the Nintendo Switch, Schneider says, “I think that will probably change next November when we're playing Breath of the Wild 2." Combined, these two statements have led many Nintendo enthusiasts to suppose this well-connected industry figurehead may have let some details slip with regard to when adventurers will be able to take their next cruise through Hyrule.

Will Breath of the Wild 2 be released in November 2022?

As with most leaks and rumors, there are both positives and negatives to mull over with regard to this claim. On the plus side, there’s no doubt that Schneider is, indeed, a very well-connected member of the games industry who just attended a fairly exclusive industry event.

The fact that he’s talking authoritatively about Nintendo’s exciting 2022 release calendar, albeit without directly saying Breath of the Wild 2 is absolutely on it, is pretty telling. After all, Breath of the Wild 2 is the only announced Nintendo title worth getting “very excited about.” Especially when he tosses out that November timeframe later on in the episode, it’s enough to make you think.

That being said, there are plenty of downsides to consider here as well. For one, it’s not entirely clear who Schneider spoke to at these Game Awards afterparties. He doesn’t say it’s anyone from Nintendo itself, which suggests this info may be coming from a second, or possibly thirdhand, source. Also, when taken in full context, his supposition about a November release sounds a bit more like a casual guess than a definitive fact. His shrug-like expression implies as much.

Without a doubt, Schneider’s words have more credibility than the “Nintendo insider squad” on Twitter that tends to be more miss than hit, but it still comes with some caveats.

Let’s also not forget that, even if Schneider’s sourcing is good and a November release date is on the table, that schedule could easily change between now and next fall. Especially with Covid-19 cases on the rise and game development still working at a protracted pace, workflows can adjust to suit the needs of the project. In other words, today’s November 2022 could still wind up being tomorrow’s March 2023. There’s just too much time for things to go wrong. Hearing these hints from such a high-ranking member of the world’s largest gaming outlet is well worth a headline, but don’t take it as gospel yet.