After the impressive critical and financial success ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, fans demanded a sequel. Once it was announced, though, it was hard to imagine aZeldagame that not only managed to fill the large expectations of the game to follow up the title that helped change open-world game design going forward. However, after a wait of six years,The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdommanaged to deliver on all that and more. Between thestrange Zonai creations players are makingand its story that tests what it means to save Princess Zelda,Tears of the Kingdomis certainly a contender for many fans' game of the year.
However, it begs the question as to just how muchThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomaims to follow in its predecessor’s footsteps asBreath of the Wildhad an entire expansion pass of DLC for players to enjoy after launch. WhileTOTKis certainly an incredible and complete experience all on its own, Nintendo would definitely be leaving money on the table if it didn’t get its own expansion pass in the future.
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How DLC Can Be the Icing on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Cake
While it’s easy to say thatTears of the Kingdomdoesn’t need DLC, the same could actually be said ofBreath of the Wild. Both of the open-worldZeldatitles have plenty of content in their base games, along with a complete story. Additional content being added after that is merely a bonus on top of an already lengthy and expansive title, even as the announcement ofBreath of the Wild’sExpansion Pass led to some speculation that it was yetanother “unfinished” Nintendo release.
However, the Expansion Pass added tons of new features that not only added toBreath of the Wild’sgameplay, but literally expanded upon it with difficult challenges such as Master Mode and the Champion’s Ballad.The Champion’s Balladalone shows just how much DLC can surprise players beyond the base game’s resolution has passed, and it begs the question as to whatTears of the Kingdom’sown DLC might tackle if given the same opportunities.
Nintendo’s Gains from Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom DLC
Even if there’s potential inTOTKDLC to surprise players, ultimately it’s not a worthwhile endeavor if there isn’t a benefit for Nintendo itself. While finding exactly how wellBreath of the Wild’sExpansion Pass sold is tricky, it’s very unlikely that a pass for such a best-selling game sold poorly by any margin. Even without DLC,Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis currently the fastest-sellingZeldagameof all time, and this means that an Expansion Pack on its own will likely sell rather well if it entices players to want to pay for more.
On top of that,TOTKcould take advantage of something thatBreath of the Wildcouldn’t. In between both games, the company introduced the Nintendo Switch Online Plus Expansion Pack tier to its online subscription service. As part of this offer, fans can get DLC of other Switch games included in its offerings, includingexpansions forAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsandSplatoon 2.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis out now for Nintendo Switch.
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