Nintendo Kept Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Under Wraps, With Only a Handful of People Aware of the Secret

In a striking contrast to the highly anticipated remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo Switch 2, which was widely known before its official reveal, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was shrouded in secrecy. According to two former PR leads, “less than 10 people” at Nintendo of America were aware of its existence prior to its announcement at E3 2019.

This insight comes from ex-Nintendo of America PR managers Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, who now share their experiences on their YouTube channel. After leaving Nintendo in 2022, they’ve been sharing behind-the-scenes stories, but during their time at the company, they were adept at keeping its secrets under wraps.

Ellis and Yang revealed that only a handful of individuals at Nintendo of America knew about Tears of the Kingdom before its trailer premiered at the last E3. Interestingly, Ellis noted that even his own boss was in the dark about the reveal, with the select few informed including some liaison staff from Japan, former Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser, and himself.

Ellis was chosen to be one of the few in the know due to his PR and marketing work on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, he humorously pointed out that “lucky” might not be the right term, as the secretive nature of the project significantly increased his workload.

“Initially, I thought there wouldn’t be much for me to do,” Ellis explained. “But as we approached E3 2019, it became clear that I had a ton to handle because there was this big communications team—this E3 machine—cranking out materials. I ended up having to take on the roles of various teams in secret.”

Yang added a lighthearted note, recalling that Ellis’ boss was right next to her during the announcement, equally surprised to see the game for the first time. It’s a bit of a shame that in today’s world of constant leaks, we rarely experience such thrilling reveals anymore. Just think how exciting it would have been to hear about the Ocarina of Time remake for the first time during its official Nintendo Direct, rather than through a podcast.