The One Place That Might Not See Breath Of The Wild Launch With The Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most talked about topics in gaming. It dominated discussions throughout 2016 and will likely do the same in 2017, but this latest topic is about whether or not Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild will launch in a key gaming territory.

According to Eurogamer, there are sources that have conveyed to them some measure of doubt regarding a global release for Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The one key territory the game may not launch in alongside the Nintendo Switch is Europe.

The report states that localization and testing is what's causing a hold-up and creating some serious discussions within Nintendo's inner circles about what the plan will be for launching the game in Europe. Now most people would assume that this refers to the U.K., release, but there's also the consideration of France, Germany, and Spain as well, each of which will require a separate localization process for the French, German and Spanish languages.

Some gamers are hoping that in the case of the U.K., they can simply get a hold of the North American version of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and for other European territories where English is an accepted language, they can rely on that version during launch. The Eurogamer article actually states something similar, with their report indicating that there could be post-launch localization efforts put into place featuring additional language support for the rest of Europe outside of countries where English is the native language.

The other alternative would simply be to delay the game's release for Europe until all the localization steps have been made and proper testing has been applied for Breath of the Wild across the spectrum. This ties into what Eurogamer had reported a short while ago, where they mentioned that sources close to the project mentioned that Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild might miss its March launch for the Nintendo Switch due to testing and localization, given how big the game is.

This newest report seems to point to the North American and Japanese versions of the game being ready for a March release, but the European version is still on standby. The major issue is that the game is so big that testing every nook and cranny takes months on end to complete, especially when factoring in all the different languages required for a European release.

Some gamers in the comment section suggested that Nintendo pull a Bethesda and simply release the game globally even if it does have some major glitches and bugs here or there. This would, of course, defy the standards that Nintendo has become known for. They were the company that recovered the video game industry back in the early-to-mid 1980s following the crash, which was a result of poorly produced games. It would seem detrimental to their image to start doing the very thing they stood against back in the 1980s. The Nintendo Seal of Quality is a hallmark symbol of Nintendo's dedication to making quality products, and to have a big game like Breath of the Wild meet the launch date of the Nintendo Switch so it has a big game to move units -- at the risk of forfeiting proper testing -- is a gamble they shouldn't be willing to make.

We'll find out exactly what they have in store for the launch of the Nintendo Switch and its software when they unveil more details about the console on January 12th.