"The Legend of Zelda" producer Eiji Aonuma says the next game in the series may not be a direct sequel to "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom." In an interview with the media, Aonuma Eiji and "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" director Fujibayashi Hidemaru introduced the next plans for the game.
When faced with the question of whether the new game could be a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Eiji Aonuma said that the idea of making a sequel to a sequel is "a little too crazy."
He explained: "We want to expand on the world created in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and really play up the possibilities of what we can be in that world." Therefore, Nintendo considers The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as the "final form" of this version of The Legend of Zelda. He said: "I don't think it will be a direct continuation of this world."
As for where the next game will be in the Zelda timeline, it may be up to players to decipher the clues and come up with the answers. When it comes to the time of the old version of Hyrule featured in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Hidemaru Fujibayashi said he wanted players to be able to define it like historians "through artifacts and data in the game," leaving room for players to draw their own conclusions. This answer may differ from what Nintendo intended, but Fujibayashi Hidemaru said "both are correct."
Timeline is something Nintendo needs to keep in mind when developing a new Zelda game, but Fujibayashi says that's only true "to a certain extent." Focusing too much on details can "put constraints on our creativity," he says, and for that reason, timelines are considered but not too important.