Summary
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomcelebrated the game’s first anniversary by sharing a pair of messages from series producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi. Nintendo has been celebrating the momentous game’s milestone over the past few weeks in a few different ways, such asa new piece ofTears of the Kingdomartwork, a soundtrack release, and an artbook. The developers of the game have also gotten into the festivities with a special message about the game.
Just over one year ago, on June 17, 2025,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwas released to critical acclaim. It was the follow-up to 2017’sBreath of the Wild, which had a number of different features and elements to help Link explore the vast world of Hyrule. Fans and critics have praisedTears of the Kingdomfor its new additions, with the Ultrahand being the most prevalent and frequently used mechanic in the game. Both Aonuma and Fujibayashi discuss the game’s reception and how players have been playing with the game’s new tools.
In a new interview with Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream (translation courtesy of SatsumaFS, Philip Proctor, and Simon Griffin fromNintendoEverything), Aonuma recalls an incident when he met a kid who excitedly proclaimed he playedTears of the Kingdomfor over 1000 hours. Aonuma remembers the child’s mother smiling at his proclamation, with Aonuma also being shocked that one person could play a game for that much time. He recalls that a lot of other people would happily tell him how theyplayedTears of the Kingdomfor many hours, and hopes to use the experience gained from working onTears of the Kingdomfor future titles. “Zeldais a longstanding series, and I would like to utilize the experience from this title to create more games that everyone can enjoy in the future, so please look forward to it. To all those who have playedThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, thank you very much,” says Aonuma.
Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi’s Celebrate Tears of the Kingdom’s First Anniversary
Tears of the KingdomdirectorFujibayashi says he observed the many ways people have been playing and enjoying the game, noting that it brought joy to the staff as a whole. He singles out the Ultrahand in particular, where its unique ability to attach and detach objects has helped create unique vehicles and devices, which contributed to a core concept that the developers were working on. He thanks the many players for playing the game as much as they did and how it gives the development team a great sense of motivation.
Zelda is a longstanding series, and I would like to utilize the experience from this title to create more games that everyone can enjoy in the future, so please look forward to it. To all those who have played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, thank you very much.
Fujibayashi notes thatTears of the Kingdom’s and Breath of the Wild’s storieswere constructed in a way that the context and details are told in a way that subsequent playthroughs allow players to look at things from a new perspective and discover things they didn’t notice before. Fans will likely dedicate the same amount of time toTears of the Kingdomas its predecessor, building and discovering a lot in the process.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
