Zelda Franchise Approaches 40 Years with Exciting New Announcements
John Shaw
Published May 16, 2026
By Published Apr 27, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
is celebrating a major birthday as a franchise this year, as it pushes past 40 years of entertaining millions of players, hopefully with four more decades of entertainment value on the way as well. As part of that, fans are expecting big things and some major announcements from the developer themselves, and they might not be disappointed.
Many are expecting the announcement of an for the Nintendo Switch 2 at some point this year, with rumors swirling that Nintendo are planning to confirm it soon. At the same time, the movie adaptation is on the way, and it seems to be drawing on several of the most classic titles in series' history for inspiration.
Now, another game could well be on the way in relatively short order, and it's a stark departure from what you might be expecting.
As first by ComicBook.com, well-known leaker Nash Weedle shared a on Twitter/X saying, "Hero, wake up, the drums are resounding for 2027." That post came as part of a larger quote tweet that simply read, "Richard > Edward > Bernard."
All very mysterious, but when you peel back the layers, it does give players a pretty good idea of what's going on. If you think back Richard and Edward were the internal codenames for The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remake and , respectively.
Those served as the most recent 2D Zelda games in the series, and Weedle is clearly intimating that another 2D release is on the way next year, which currently has the codename Bernard. In fairness, they could also be trying to confirm a reveal next year with a release at a later date, though that is probably the less likely of the two scenarios, even with Echoes of Wisdom's 2026 release date.
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Zelda fans tend to do a pretty great job supporting both 3D and 2D entries in the franchise, and it remains one of the only series that continues to release both with (relative) regularity.
At the same time, fans are expecting some news on another 3D release at some point relatively soon, with 2026's remaining the most recent effort in that regard. Overall, it's already a very good time to be a Zelda fan, so if another game or two gets announced this year, then it could really dial up into an all-time great few years for the series.
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