What The Legend of Zelda is
The Legend of Zelda is an action-adventure game series produced, and primarily developed and published, by Nintendo. It was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. The games are set in the fantasy world of Hyrule, where most games follow Link as he explores, solves puzzles, and fights. Echoes of Wisdom instead stars Princess Zelda; see Nintendo’s introduction. Series information is available on Nintendo’s official page.
The first game, The Legend of Zelda, was released in 1986 for the Family Computer Disk System. Later landmarks include the 3D-era Ocarina of Time, and the open-world reinventions The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017, for Wii U and Nintendo Switch) and its successor The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023, for Nintendo Switch). For the console platform, see the Nintendo Switch entry.
Use and boundaries
The Legend of Zelda is a first-party, premium single-purchase series: games are produced by Nintendo and sold on Nintendo’s own hardware, and as of October 2026 the series’ mainline releases are officially distributed for Nintendo platforms. Release platforms, languages, and editions for each title are governed by Nintendo’s official page.
Discussion in the show
In Weekly #005’s chapter “游戏反编译、Mod 与商业模式” (“Game decompilation, mods, and business models”), while discussing how AI-driven decompilation and re-creation affect the game industry, Guizang said Nintendo and Sony were hit hardest by fan re-creations; Xiangyang Qiaomu asked “for one-time-purchase titles like these, the premium games are hit hardest, right?”, and Guizang cited Zelda and Bloodborne as examples: “aren’t a lot of people re-creating Bloodborne? Progress was slow for a long time, but it has moved fast in the last two weeks”. The same chapter mentions the AnyPS5 project that brings PS5 games to PC. This is participant relay and commentary about fan re-creation projects; these projects are not official Nintendo work, and their progress and legal status have not been confirmed through official channels. See the chapter in Weekly #005 (Chinese transcript).
Frequently asked questions
Is The Legend of Zelda a Nintendo game?
Yes. The series was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, with titles sold on Nintendo’s own platforms.
When did the first Zelda game come out?
The first game in the series was released in 1986 for the Family Computer Disk System.
What years did Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom come out?
Breath of the Wild was released in 2017 for Wii U and Nintendo Switch; Tears of the Kingdom was released in 2023 for Nintendo Switch.