The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom leaks early, apparently
Two weeks ahead of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s May 12 release date, the game seems to have already leaked. This isn’t entirely surprising — it’s the biggest game of the year, and people are eager to get a look at it — but Nintendo is likely scrambling to get the footage taken down.
If you’re looking to play Tears of the Kingdom without having it spoiled ahead of the release date, you’ll want to steer clear of social media and Reddit.
It’s become increasingly common to see footage early from major games; Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was spread online more than a week in advance of its release date in November.
So far, the footage is mostly screenshots from private livestreams, with several small clips of unseen footage from cutscenes and gameplay. It seems to be pretty early since Tears of the Kingdom’s first leaked footage went online, but it’s likely that it’ll continue and spread quickly. Nintendo has not responded to Polygon’s request for comment.
A Tears of the Kingdom art book — available with the collector’s edition of the game — leaked in April and was spread online, and Nintendo took quick action on that. Nintendo is looking to sue the leaker, but first, it needs to figure out who did it. Nintendo subpoenaed Discord for the identity of the leaker, and that legal process is ongoing.
When images from Pokémon Sword and Shield leaked via an unreleased strategy guide, The Pokémon Company also took quick action to handle the leakers. A lawsuit was filed in 2019 and settled in 2021, with each defendant forced to pay The Pokémon Company $150,000 in damages and attorney’s fees.
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