Most Nintendo Employees Found Out About Tears Of The Kingdom When You Did
Nintendo maintained exceptionally tight security around The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, keeping the project so confidential that most of the company’s employees only discovered its existence when it was first teased publicly at E3 2019. According to former Nintendo of America marketing and PR leads Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, the Breath of the Wild sequel received an unusually high level of confidentiality—exceeding security measures on any other Nintendo project they worked on during their tenure.
The secrecy was so tightly controlled that only a small number of people within Nintendo of America were aware of the game’s development before its official announcement. Ellis, who served as the director of social media marketing at the time, was among the majority of employees who learned about Tears of the Kingdom alongside the general public during the company’s E3 2019 Nintendo Direct presentation, rather than through internal channels.
The extreme confidentiality surrounding Tears of the Kingdom demonstrates Nintendo’s commitment to surprising players with major announcements. The strategy proved successful, generating significant buzz upon reveal and contributing to the game’s later success as one of the Nintendo Switch’s most acclaimed titles.