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The next Legend of Zelda game could be inspired by Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, producer suggests

2025-12-23 14:08
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The next Legend of Zelda game could be inspired by Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, producer suggests

The Legend of Zelda producer, Eiji Aonuma, has teased the next entry in the series, suggesting that the game will be inspired by Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.

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The next Legend of Zelda game could be inspired by Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, producer suggests News By Demi Williams published 23 December 2025

"We hope you’ll imagine those possibilities and look forward to our Zelda"

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  • The next mainline Zelda game could be inspired by Koei Tecmo's Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
  • The Legend of Zelda producer, Eiji Aonuma, has teased the next Zelda game, saying he's gained inspiration from Koei Tecmo's spin-off entry
  • "The inspiration we've gained from collaborating with Koei Tecmo like this may be reflected in the next Zelda we create," Aonuma says

The Legend of Zelda producer, Eiji Aonuma, has suggested that the next entry in the long-running series will be inspired by Koei Tecmo's Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.

Speaking in an interview with Japanese publication 4Gamer (via VGC), Aonuma teased the next Zelda game and said that his team has gained inspiration from Koei Tecmo's Nintendo Switch 2 spin-off title.

"Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is the first Zelda title on Nintendo Switch 2," Aonuma said. "To be honest, we wanted to be the ones to release the ‘first’ one ourselves (laughs).

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"Still, the inspiration we've gained from collaborating with Koei Tecmo like this may be reflected in the next Zelda we create. As you play Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, we hope you’ll imagine those possibilities and look forward to our Zelda."

Age of Imprisonment is the third game in the Hyrule Warriors series, and depicts the events that lead up to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The previous game, Age of Calamity, also does the same by telling the story of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's history as a prequel.

Nintendo hasn't announced the third game in its new Zelda series, but I'm curious to see if Aonuma will use Age of Imprisonment's blend of action mechanics as inspiration for the next entry.

In TechRadar Gaming's Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment review, hardware editor Rhys Wood called the game "a huge improvement over Age of Calamity", offering "more characters with interesting move sets, decent performance, and a story that doesn't relegate itself to being a meaningless 'what if' scenario."

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TOPICS Legend of Zelda Demi WilliamsDemi Williams

Demi is a freelance games journalist for TechRadar Gaming. She's been a games writer for five years and has written for outlets such as GameSpot, NME, and GamesRadar, covering news, features, and reviews. Outside of writing, she plays a lot of RPGs and talks far too much about Star Wars on X.

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