Nintendo is planning a smartphone Zelda game, report claims

The Legend of Zelda might be the next big Nintendo IP in line for the smartphone treatment.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Nintendo is planning to release a Zelda title for smartphones some time after its Animal Crossing game, which it says is due out in the second half of 2017. This is however still very much subject to change, it adds.

What’s not known is whether the Zelda title will be a full blown 3D version, a mobile-friendly re-imagining along the lines of Super Mario Run or instead something completely different with a Zelda theme, such as a puzzle or card game.

Speaking of card games, the site adds that The Pokemon Company is currently planning exactly that – a Pokemon card game for smartphones.

Neither Nintendo nor DeNA responded to the site’ request for comment.

Just last month, Nintendo boss Tatsumi Kimishima said that Nintendo plans on releasing two or three new smartphone games in the current financial year, which ends in March 2018.

The company has so far released three smartphone titles – social app Miitomo, premium platformer Super Mario Run and free-to-play strategy outing Fire Emblem Heroes. Pokemon Go was not a Nintendo game, coming instead from Niantic and The Pokemon Company, although Nintendo does have a significant stake in the latter.

Certainly Zelda’s stock is higher now than it has been in quite some time, following the colossal success of The Breath of the Wild on Switch and, to a lesser degree, Wii U. Any appearance from the IP on mobile would generate a lot of excitement for Nintendo’s smartphone push.