We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom release date, story, gameplay

If you want to know about The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom's release date, here's everything we know about this highly-anticipated Switch game

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom: Link running

When is The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom release date? The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the award-winning open-world entry in the series. This new adventure will take Link back to the Hyrule of Breath of the Wild but with added verticality thanks to new floating island areas high in the sky. We can also expect new gameplay mechanics, powers for Link, and more.

It’s going to be one of the biggest Switch releases of the year, so here’s all The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom info we know so far. This article covers gameplay, story, and a look at what exciting new features Nintendo is bringing to the sequel.

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom release date

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom was released on Friday, May 12, 2023.

With its predecessor being widely dubbed one of the best Nintendo Switch games ever, it’s got some big shoes to fill, but it definitely looks like it could reach even greater heights.

Where to buy Tears of the Kingdom

You can already buy The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from lots of retailers in the US and UK:

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom gameplay

Various trailers have shown off short snippets of Tears of the Kingdom gameplay – no extended gameplay of the game has been released just yet.

The trailer below from late 2022 shows Link scaling cliff faces, skydiving, and gliding through the air on a new aerial mount.

YouTube Thumbnail

The most recent trailer from February 2023 shows a bit more gameplay and some potential new mechanics. Link can be seen skating a metal track, driving a new land-based vehicle, flying in a hot air balloon, and piloting an aerial vehicle that looks like a large drone.

YouTube Thumbnail

The Nintendo Direct focused on the game unveiled even more about these vehicles and that they are actually completely craftable, thanks to the Fuse ability which has been added. This allows Link to merge items together to craft wild contraptions or enhance weapons with new effects.

We also go to see the Ascend ability, which allows Link to pass through objects above him.

YouTube Thumbnail

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom story

The story of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is shrouded in mystery right now. But, we do know it is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, so we can expect the story to pick up from where that one left off.

Trailers have shown short glimpses of what might be in store, but nothing concrete, except the return of Ganon and some returning characters from Breath of the Wild.

There you have everything we know about The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom’s release date, gameplay, story, and more. While you wait for the next Legend of Zelda game, make sure to check out our list of the best Switch exclusives to see what other amazing titles you can play in the meantime.