The gaming industry is not a simple one, no matter how it may seem on the outside. Behind just one video game release is often an entire team of developers, with tens if not hundreds of workers, and behind them is a publisher, with another hundred or so workers packed inside. A big AAA game can often have hundreds if not thousands of moving parts, and no matter how talented each team member is, getting all those gears to gel is no easy task. But somehow, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has managed to make it work.
Over the last few weeks, discussions surrounding the state of modern video game releases have become much louder. Gamers across the world are unhappy that modern-day AAA titles can launch in an unfinished, sometimes even broken state, and still charge a full $70 for the luxury of experiencing it. With such discussions taking over the industry recently, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the perfect proof that sometimes it's necessary to delay a game.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Proves That Delays Are Usually for the Best
Development on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom began almost as soon as Breath of the Wild released in 2017. Tears of the Kingdom was officially announced, then only known as the "sequel to Breath of the Wild," in 2019. In 2021, the first gameplay trailer for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was shown, along with a tentative release window of 2022. Nintendo soon provided an update on Tears of the Kingdom pushing it to 2023. While Tears of the Kingdom was technically only ever officially delayed once, it did spend six years in development, most of which without a slated release date, which is essentially the same thing.
But now that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally out, it seems safe to say that its lengthy six-year development cycle was more than worth the wait. For the most part, Tears of the Kingdom is an improvement and expansion on its predecessor in almost every way, bringing a plethora of new mechanics to the game that more than justify its existence. Additionally, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom performs surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch, despite its now extremely outdated hardware. It's clear that a lot of time and effort went into optimizing Tears of the Kingdom for the Switch, and that effort pays off massively. Though it may drop a few frames every now and then, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom performs better on the Switch than it has any right to.
If The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom should influence the gaming industry in one way, it should act as proof that it's more than okay to delay a game. In the last few weeks, both Redfall and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor have garnered no shortage of well-deserved criticism. The two games, both of which are big AAA, $70 releases, perform absolutely horrendously on not just PC, but consoles as well. While the PC crowd is unfortunately used to shoddy performance on release day, those same issues rarely plague console ports. But in the case of Redfall and Jedi: Survivor, poor framerates, screen-tearing, texture pop-in, and hard crashes are common occurrences across all platforms.
One of the most famous quotes from the gaming industry is that "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." While this quote might not actually be from Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the message is still extremely relevant. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom took its time and wasn't afraid to keep its fans waiting, and as a result, it's a well-polished, critically-acclaimed game. While Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is another great 2023 release, its poor performance has greatly affected its reception, and with just a few more months of development time that could have been avoided.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on Switch.