Bad news from the land of Hyrule as Nintendo has announced The Legend of Zelda on Wii U is delayed until 2016. Also, don't expect it to show up at E3 this year.

Eiji Aonuma, the longtime director and producer of The Legend of Zelda series, has announced that the anticipated Wii U title will likely not be releasing in 2015. Originally scheduled to launch sometime this year, Aonuma claims that his team is now focusing on making this open world game the best it can be without trying to adhere to a strict launch schedule. Aonuma, who is producing this specific Zelda entry, has revealed that Nintendo will not be revealing any new footage of the game at E3 2015 this June. It is likely that any new footage will be revealed via a Nintendo Direct stream, which the company regularly uses to unveil new trailers.

Here's what Aonuma had to to say about this project's unfortunate delay:

Since I declared at The Game Awards in December that the game would launch in 2015, the directors and many members of the development team have been working hard developing the game to make it the best it can be. In these last three months, as the team has experienced firsthand the freedom of exploration that hasn't existed in any Zelda game to date, we have discovered several new possibilities for this game.

As we have worked to turn these possibilities into reality, new ideas have continued to spring forth, and it now feels like we have the potential to create something that exceeds even my own expectations. As I have watched our development progress, I have come to think that rather than work with meeting a a specific schedule as our main objective, and releasing a game that reflects only what we can create within that scheduled time, I feel strongly that our focus should be to bring all these ideas to life in a way that will make The Legend of Zelda on Wii U the best game it can possibly be.

So, I must apologize to you all that were expecting the game by the year's end, but we are no longer making a 2015 release our number one priority. Instead, our priority is to make it the most complete and ultimate Zelda game. I hope to use the added time to make The Legend of Zelda for Wii U into a game that will reward you for your patience, so thank you for your continued support.

This will obviously deal a major blow to Nintendo, as The Legend of Zelda has always been one of its biggest console sellers. Unfortunately, without Nintendo's Hylian savior, things are looking bleak for the Wii U. With Super Smash Bros' launch long gone, the big question on everyone's mind is will Xenoblade Chronicles X, Star Fox Wii U, Mario Maker, Yoshi's Wooly World and Splatoon be enough to keep the Wii U a viable contender to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One throughout 2015?

Stay tuned as we'll provide up-to-date coverage on The Legend of Zelda for Wii U once more information is available. While Aonuma didn't rule out a 2015 release completely, we're expecting that we won't see this anticipated Zelda title until well into 2016.

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