The Legend of Zelda Series Was in ‘Dire Straits’ Before Breath of the Wild, Former Nintendo Marketing Leads SayShield up.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Updated<\/p>\n
: Nov 13, 2026 2:48pm UTC<\/p>\n
The Zelda series was in \u201cdire straits\u201d before Breath of the Wild, with a dwindling playerbase and low sales, according to former Nintendo marketing leads.<\/p>\n
Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, who both worked at Nintendo for over a decade, made the claims on the latest episode of their podcast (as spotted by GamesRadar+). They refuted the idea that Breath of the Wild ruined the Zelda series with its new formula, and instead argued that it actually saved the franchise from a loss of relevance.<\/p>\n
It comes as part of a discussion about \u201cnew Zelda\u201d versus \u201cold Zelda\u201d \u2014 or essentially, the dungeon format versus a complete open world. While there is clearly a demand for the older Zelda games, as evidenced by the hugely successful Ocarina of Time remake, the pair say there is a good reason why Nintendo took them away from us in the first place.<\/p>\n
The 10 Best Legend of Zelda Games<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been some revisionist history out there lately,<\/p>\n