--- description: Nintendo's first The Legend of Zelda smartphone game could arrive as soon as next year, according to reports. title: Here's When We Might See a Zelda Smartphone Game image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9b6933b3e24eb05/698897b7cd1bba30f070118b/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's When We Might See a 'The Legend of Zelda' Smartphone Game ## Video: An Inside Look At The Nintendo Switch And Zelda: Breath Of The Wild [Watch (HLS stream): An Inside Look At The Nintendo Switch And Zelda: Breath Of The Wild](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gH4cht61.m3u8) (11:29)  _Published 2017-03-02. TIME's Lifestyle editor and tech correspondent give an inside look at the new Nintendo Switch, out March 3._ by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 15, 2017 3:00 PM CUT  Nintendo by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 15, 2017 3:00 PM CUT We could see Nintendo’s _The Legend of Zelda_ on smartphones and tablets as early as next year, the [_Wall Street Journal reports_](https://www.wsj.com/articles/nintendo-developing-the-legend-of-zelda-smartphone-game-1494820189 "undefined"), referring to the Kyoto company’s pledge to release a few mobile games based on its bestselling franchises per annual fiscal cycles. The report, if correct — it’s sourced vaguely to “people familiar with the matter” — would be no great surprise. _The Legend of Zelda_ is a cornerstone Nintendo property, far more recognizable to general audiences than something like _Fire Emblem_, a turn-based strategy roleplaying series that Nintendo brought to smartphones in early February. Or _Animal Crossing_, its next smartphone game, delayed but currently due by the end of March 2018. That’s to say nothing of the whirlwind success of [_The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild_](http://time.com/4683122/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-review/ "undefined"), a novel take on the fantasy adventure series that [at last check](http://time.com/4757273/nintendo-switch-sales/ "undefined") has sold nearly 4 million copies between the Wii U and Switch. A _Zelda_ smartphone game was all but predestined. The question was simply, “When?” Sometime in 2018, claims the _Journal_‘s sources, to be preceded by the _Animal Crossing_ mobile game sometime in the second half of 2017, though the sources add a get out of jail “timing and order of the releases could be changed” clause. Nintendo’s first smartphone app, a social engagement curio dubbed [_Miitomo_](http://time.com/4261043/nintendo-miitomo-mobile-app-ios-android-release-date/ "undefined"), arrived in March 2016\. The company followed with [_Super Mario Run_](http://time.com/4602086/super-mario-run-review/ "undefined") in December 2016, then [_Fire Emblem Heroes_](http://time.com/4638567/fire-emblem-heroes/ "undefined") in February 2017\. While _Miitomo_‘s usage numbers have been modest, _Super Mario Run_ has racked up in the vicinity of 150 million downloads, though its “pay once” monetization model led Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima [to express disappointment](http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Nintendo-chases-more-than-profit-with-Super-Mario-Run "undefined") in conversion rate revenues (from free to paying players). How would Nintendo monetize a _Zelda_ smartphone game? One assumes at the very least unlike _Miitomo_, _Super Mario Run_ or _Fire Emblem Echoes_. Nintendo made it clear, [speaking to TIME earlier this year](http://time.com/4662446/nintendo-president-switch-interview/ "undefined"), that these games are partly experimental. Nintendo’s view of success isn’t merely financial. The company’s late president Satoru Iwata was understandably [concerned about the “insincerity”](http://time.com/3747342/nintendo-ceo-satoru-iwata/ "undefined") of free-to-play games. We seem thus to be in the throes of a kind of mass laboratory attempt to shape consumer behavior, to see if world-recognized intellectual property can be leveraged in a way that mitigates exploitive slot machine-style business practices while still moving the needle on consumer buy-in. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4778949/nintendo-zelda-smartphone-game/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4778949/nintendo-zelda-smartphone-game/"},"headline":"Here's When We Might See a 'The Legend of Zelda' Smartphone Game","datePublished":"2017-05-15T15:00:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:51:09.174Z","description":"Animal Crossing is said to arrive by end of 2017, too","url":"https://time.com/4778949/nintendo-zelda-smartphone-game/","keywords":["Tech","Smartphones","Video Games","Nintendo","the legend of zelda","wall street journal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9b6933b3e24eb05/698897b7cd1bba30f070118b/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt Peckham","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/matt-peckham/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9b6933b3e24eb05/698897b7cd1bba30f070118b/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"zelda-breath-of-the-wild-1","caption":"","creditText":"Nintendo","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4778949/nintendo-zelda-smartphone-game/","name":"Here's When We Might See a 'The Legend of Zelda' Smartphone Game"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"An Inside Look At The Nintendo Switch And Zelda: Breath Of The Wild","description":"TIME's Lifestyle editor and tech correspondent give an inside look at the new Nintendo Switch, out March 3.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gH4cht61/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-02T16:45:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gH4cht61.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4778949/nintendo-zelda-smartphone-game/","duration":"PT11M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4778949/nintendo-zelda-smartphone-game/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```