I could see a 2028 or 2029 release being a possibility if they decide to scale back their ambitions a bit, but I feel like 2030's probably more likely given how they shot for the moon with BOTW and TOTK in terms of complex systems, plus the step up in graphics this time around.

I'd love to be wrong though as I'd love to play a new Zelda sooner than expected.

Hopefully the Dead Hand is even more terrifying in this version.

sorry guys was drunk again last night. as for this zelda stuff, i dont think its logical to assume that because totk took 6 years that this is just going to be the standard moving forward. botw took 6 years because they were delaying the game because they didnt want the launch to be wasted on the wii u. as for totk, why did it come out 6 years later? im sure the building feature was very complex to make sure it was done right. they made a huge open world similar to botw, but with these new features in mind which is very complex. and im sure covid probably slowed down development time. to assume that the next zelda is 2030 at minimum is to assume that theyre going to be making a game as complex and as vast as this one. i just highly doubt that is the case. it doesnt make sense for nintendo to want zelda games to be on a schedule like that.

surprised by the art style, this could be amazing (again)

A thought came to mind that people are going to hate (LMAO)...

We could see a return of motion control sword combat IMO. Ocarina of time's combat was very minimal with Link essentially slicing in 3 directions. Of course I expect they will evolve the combat, but they may still keep the sword play very simple (classic feeling as opposed to flashy)... It won't be mandatory or in anyway tie into gameplay mechanics, just an optional flourish. I'd be quite here for it tbh

There is no reason to think the next mainline 3D Zelda won’t have a similar development time as BotW/TotK.

Ocarina of Time-Nov 1998

Majora’s Mask-April 2000 (1 year, 5 months)

Wind Waker-Dec 2002 (2 years, 8 months)

Twilight Princess-Nov 2006 (3 years, 11 months)

Skyward Sword-Nov 2011 (5 years)

Breath of the Wild-March 2017 (5 years, 4 months)

Tears of the Kingdom-May 2023 (6 years, 2 months)

Mainline 3D Zelda titles have consistently taken longer and longer to develop and there is no reason to believe that trend will reverse, 2029 is likely the earliest we can expect the next entry to release.

i mean thats a pretty superficial way to look at things. have you ever stopped for a second to consider that some of those release dates maybe were more a result of strategic timing as opposed to straight development times? no you probably didnt think that at all. all you did was look at the numbers with no attempt at interpretation at all. i predict the next zelda will come in 2028. 

You can say TP and BotW were delayed for console launches, but what about the rest? To deny that games are taking longer and longer to develop as time marches on is to deny reality at this point.

In an earlier post, you mentioned that a big reason why game development time and costs have shot up is do to things like motion capture and realistic physics engines... based on the last two mainline Zelda games and what we've seen of this new OoT remake, it's obvious that Zelda is Nintendo's big, ambitious IP that it spares no expenses on to show off what the console can really do. Won't all of those elements take a lot of time and polish? Zelda (and Star Fox) is showing that Nintendo is embracing graphics, voice acting and cinematics in a way that it never has before.

Bro, it’s a nearly 30 year trend without single outlier, use some common sense.

But yeah you’re totally right, over the last 30 years Nintendo strategically decided to make Zelda games take longer to release, it has nothing to do with the fact as technology advances games require more time and manpower.

Those darn grass physics! *shakes fist*