The game was originally planned for release in 2015 as a Wii U exclusive but was delayed twice. Released on March 3, 2017, Breath of the Wild was a launch game for the Nintendo Switch and the final Nintendo-published game for the Wii U. Two waves of downloadable content were released throughout 2017 in an expansion pass.īreath of the Wild received critical acclaim for its open-ended gameplay and attention to detail.
Critics called it a landmark in open world game design, although it received minor criticism for its technical performance at launch. It won several game of the year awards and has since been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. By 2021 it had sold nearly 26 million copies, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time. A sequel is set for release on the Switch in 2022.
