Nintendo says no Zelda Tears of the Kingdom DLC is planned - yet

Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma says Nintendo has no plans to make Tears of the Kingdom DLC, unlike other Zelda games on Switch

Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma says Nintendo has no plans to make Tears of the Kingdom DLC, unlike the company’s approach to other Zelda games on Switch. Aonuma made the comments in a recent interview with Famitsu, translated by Twitter user Genki_JPN, where he said the team thinks they’ve done all there is to do in this version of Hyrule.

“We have no plans to release additional content this time, but that is because we feel like we have done all we can do to create play in that world,” Aonuma said. “The reason we decided to make a sequel to the previous game in the first place was because we thought it would be worth experiencing new ways to play in Hyrule.”

There will be no DLC for The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom!

"We have no plans to release additional content this time, but that is because we feel like we have done all we can do to create play in that world" – Zelda TOTK Producer, Eiji Aonumahttps://t.co/1SmvIwPl21 pic.twitter.com/Xxxowea2AS

— Genki (@Genki_JPN) September 6, 2023

Nintendo teased DLC for Breath of the Wild, TotK’s predecessor, before the game even launched and even locked some of the open-world game’s features behind it, such as fully powering up the Master Sword. Age of Calamity, the series’ most recent Warriors spinoff, also had a few small expansions, with new missions and other minor additions, but it seems like the pre- and post-Calamity world of Hyrule has finally run its course.

The news is perhaps a little surprising in light of previous Zelda games, though Nintendo rarely stays with one idea or location for long. Mario Galaxy 2, one of the best Super Mario Bros. games, was billed as an accident created from leftover ideas that Nintendo cut from the first Galaxy, for example, and even Monolith’s visions for Xenoblade Chronicles change dramatically with each new game in the series. 

As for what the next Zelda game or possible DLC may be, that’s anyone’s guess, though Aonuma said it won’t be similar to Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

“We may return to the same world,” Aonuma said. “Whether it is a sequel or new work, I think it will be a completely new way to play, so I hope you will look forward to it.”

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF