Zelda fans heartbroken as new game leaks online early

The next chapter in The Legend of Zelda franchise has been marred by its newest game leaking early online.

Leaks have become part of the video games community whether we like it or not.

Oftentimes, leaks tend to be skewered truths that don’t reveal too much, but on occasion a large chunk of an upcoming title is dropped before its release.

Sadly, that’s what’s befallen The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is worth waiting for, so check out the trailer instead of the leaked game

When GAMINGbible’s Ewan Moore previewed the new Nintendo release, he described it as a “masterful quest”.

He added, “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is shaping up to be everything I’d hoped it would be. Brand new and warmly familiar all at once, this is a game that’s groaning under the weight of smart ideas and surprising mechanics.”

The majority of fans would have been content to wait until its official launch on 26 September, however, there are those who got greedy and wanted the game now.

It turns out that they got their wish.

We’re not going to link to the leak here – we'd rather you enjoy the game as intended. That said, we will discuss how fans are reacting to this sad news.

Be warned, there are those who’ve played the game discussing it in the comments on Reddit, so if you go to read all the details on this leak, be prepared to see spoilers.

Although fans are disappointed that this has happened, they’re not shocked.

“TBF the switch is seven years old. It's not surprising it's been cracked and games can be dumped,” argued Quietm02.

Others are curious how Nintendo will prevent similar issues from impacting new games when the Switch 2 launches.

User Weak_Goose_1333 said, “I wonder how Nintendo will deal with protecting Switch 2 titles from being this easy to pirate. I feel like we are going to see a huge investment there this generation after they cited millions of downloads on TOTK before it released.”

Are games being leaked simply an “inevitable” part of the experience? Some have gone so far as to argue that, though not everyone agrees.

While a debate over why and how this happened continues, one thing for certain is how crushing it is to see a new game spoilt before it’s been officially released.