Zelda's Official 40th Anniversary Release Confirmed For October

1 hour ago 5

Published Apr 1, 2026, 9:03 AM EDT

James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC.

The Legend of Zelda is celebrating its 40th birthday as a franchise this year, with fans very much expecting some major releases along the way to mark the occasion.

Though we haven't had too much just yet, there are plenty of rumors swirling about what could be coming down the pipeline, including the potential of an Ocarina of Time remake for the Switch 2 arriving later this year.

That said, we have just had confirmation of what is one of the first releases tied to the franchise this year, and though it's a little later than we were expecting, there's still plenty of reasons to get involved and buy what's on offer.

The Legend Of Zelda Returns This October

Zelda looking concerned in a forest in Breath of the Wild

Over on Reddit, one player shared a post from Dark Horse Comics on Instagram in which they confirmed a new Zelda release with the following caption:

"Dark Horse is excited to announce The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Secrets of the Zonai, the ultimate companion to the award-winning video game. This must-have book features behind-the-scenes sketches, notes, rough designs, concept art, interviews and more! Available October 20, 2026!"

It's a very similar release to the one we have already seen for Breath of the Wild, which went down very well. The only difference here is that the book comes some three years after the release of the game, whereas the original received this supplementary companion only a year later.

Zelda Fans Aren't Entirely Sold On This Release

A person rides their horse, overlooking the landscape in The Legend of Khiimori.

The comments underneath the post were a mixture of delighted fans who are just glad that the book exists, and others who were questioning where it has been all of this time.

"And I just bought the Japanese Master Works book last month, thinking they weren't going to release an English-language version after so long. Welp, time to save up again!" one comment read.

"Instant buy, the Collector looks gorgeous! I already have the Hero’s edition and the Champion’s edition of Creating a Champion so this will fit nicely!" another added.

Another was considerably less convinced, saying, "Wow… Three years after the initial game was released. With BOTW, we got Creating A Champion a year after the game was released. It didn’t seem nearly as long at the time; because there was a lack of availability of Nintendo Switches and most people didn’t buy a Wii U. TOTK is 3 years old and all the momentum around it fizzled out after the first year."

Still, whatever you think of the arrival time of the book, it's a cool addition to the wider Zelda landscape, and one that will be welcome in many collections. Let's just hope there are some more announcements on the way soon.