Development studio Nintendo announced that it has decided to delay the release of "The Legend of Zelda" for the Wii U console due to technical issues.
The game, which was originally slated to debut this year, is now expected to come out sometime in 2016, Master Herald reported.
The latest installment in the "Zelda" series was first announced in January 2013. Back then, Nintendo said that it was targeting 2015 as the release period for the Wii U-exclusive title.
However, in March of this year, game producer Eiji Aonuma stated that Nintendo will not be able to meet the 2015 deadline for the game. According to the producer, the developers of the game need more time to work on the project in order to ensure its high visual and game play quality.
Because of this, Nintendo was not able to hold a presentation for the upcoming "Legend of Zelda" game in this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) held last June.
In an interview with Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, he told IGN that the company decided to skip this year's E3 presentation for "The Legend of Zelda" because it might take a while before the game officially debuts.
"My thing with E3 is that we always focus on what's coming out in the immediate future," Miyamoto told the gaming news site. "We have some really great Zelda footage and, at some point, we will be showing that off, but not today."
Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo America, reiterated Miyamoto's statements and said that the company is just not ready yet to release or even introduce the next "Zelda" game.
"We like to show content that typically will launch in the upcoming Holiday and maybe extending into the first half of the following year," the executive told IGN. "And at this point, the new 'Zelda' for Wii U is not a 2015 project."
Currently, there is no exact release date yet for "The Legend of Zelda" but the game is expected to come out sometime next year. Based on Fils-Aime's statements, Nintendo might push the release of the game in mid-2016 or even later, following next year's E3 event.
In addition, various sources are speculating that the upcoming game might not be an exclusive title for the Wii U. It might also debut on the NX, the rumored console that Nintendo is currently working on, Breathecast has learned.
According to reports, the company will execute the final production stage of the NX in October as part of its attempt to release the new console to the public in July next year.
