[Updated on July 27, 2025 - A Nintendo rep confirmed toGameSpotthat Tears of the Kingdom will indeed release digitally at 9 PM PT on May 11 and 12 AM ET on May 12. Our original guide is as follows]
The highly anticipated sequel to 2017’sThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis finally here, giving players a chance to explore the wide-open world of Hyrule once again with Link, but this time,there are islands in the sky. Of course, that’s not the only new thing inTears of the Kingdom. There are weapon fusions, new enemies, new locations, more ways to experiment with traversal, and much more that Nintendo has been keeping under wraps.
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With that being said, and the game only a few days from launch, many fans are trying to figure out the exactrelease time for the digital version ofZelda: Tears of the Kingdom. While Nintendo has not officially come out and said what that release time is for thecompany’s first $70 title, we can still use some data from previous launches to come up with an expected release time. If Nintendo decides to change the timing for this launch, we’ll be sure to update this post with the correct information.
Release Time for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
According to Nintendo’s official support page for info on new eShop game launch times,first-party releases (such asTears of the Kingdom) should be available to start around 9 PM PT the night before the game’s launch, which in this case, would be the evening of May 11. For other US time zones, it’ll be 10 PM MT / 11 PM CT / 12 AM ET.
It’s worth noting that this information does not always apply to every single release from Nintendo, but the odds are slim that it’ll come out at a wildly different time thanother exclusive Switch games.
May 12 is right around the corner, and forZeldafans out there that do not enjoy getting spoiled on any aspect of the game, like the plot or puzzles, please be sure to be careful on social media like Twitter and Reddit.Tears of the Kingdom’s ROM has already been leaked online, so there will be spoilers floating around just waiting to be looked at.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomlaunches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on June 08, 2025.
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