Tears of the Kingdom Producer gives exciting tease of the new Zelda game

The 'tears' are rolling down our faces that Nintendo could be leaving The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom behind already, but as we potentially sunset out time with the most ambitious Zelda game yet, it comes with the silver lining of a new chapter.

Zelda games aren't exactly known for their direct sequels, and while Majora's Mask was a sequel to Ocarina of Time, the fact Tears of the Kingdom was a Breath of the Wild sequel was something of a rarity. Although some hoped for a trilogy, it doesn't look like you're getting one.

Tears of the Kingdom Producer teases a new Zelda game

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While Nintendo churns out Pokemon games, our trips to the Zeldaverse have been a little more sporadic. Now, Tears of the Kingdom Producer Eiji Aonuma and Director Hidemaro Fujibayash have given us a rare peek inside the franchise's inner workings.

Speaking to Game Informer about Link's next steps, Aonuma laughed off the idea of a Tears sequel and set his sights on pastures new as he said, "Well that would be a sequel to a sequel, which is getting a little bit wild when you think about it!"

He went on to explain, "With Tears of the Kingdom, we were seeking to build on top of the world we created with Breath of the Wild and really exhaust the possibilities of what we could put into that world. I think it is – to use a bit of a term – an apotheosis, or the final form of that version of The Legend of Zelda."

Aonuma concluded, "I don't think that we'll be making a direct sequel to a world such as that that we've created." Whether this is a spin-off in the vein of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity or a full-blown mainline game, Nintendo isn't going to sit on its laurels and bask in the success of Tears. 

Don't expect a Tears of the Kingdom DLC

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Earlier in the interview, the pair were asked whether we could see the Ultrahand feature appear in future entries. Whether it be the ocarina, sailing in the King of Red Lions, or Skyward Sword's stamina meter, the Zelda games have constantly innovated. Unfortunately, Ultrahand won't be one making a return. 

Discussing the selection process of Tears and how some things were left on the cutting room floor, Aonuma said, "This time, you'll see that there is no DLC because of that process. We created what we wanted to create and felt that it was complete in that fashion.

"So from that aspect as well, I think we definitely won't be including Ultrahand in titles going forward." Whereas Breath of the Wild had The Master Trials and The Champions' Ballad as DLC content, Tears of the Kingdom is destined to leave things here. On the plus side, we hopefully won't have to wait as long for the next swing of the Master Sword.