Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Repeats Unfortunate TOTK Leak Scenario

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Repeats Unfortunate TOTK Leak Scenario

Key Takeaways

  • The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom ROM was leaked online on September 21.
  • Pirates have hence started playing the game via Switch emulators five days ahead of its official release.
  • Tears of the Kingdom was also leaked in a similar fashion in 2023, which prompted a strong response from Nintendo that ended in a swift shutdown of two popular emulators.

As someone who has been following The Legend of Zelda series since its humble beginnings, it’s always a bittersweet feeling to witness the early leaks of these games. On one hand, I understand the excitement and anticipation that drives people to play the game before its official release date. However, on the other hand, it’s disheartening to see such a beloved series being subjected to piracy, especially when it impacts the creators and developers who pour their hearts and souls into these games.


It’s been revealed that “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom” has surfaced online, with the playable version of the game showing up on numerous torrent sites towards the end of September 2024. This means that pirates were able to obtain a copy of “Echoes of Wisdom” around a week before its official release date.

On September 26, we’re set to unveil the culmination of wisdom – “Echoes of Wisdom.” This game marks the anticipated last installment in the Legend of Zelda series exclusively for Nintendo Switch.

Pirates Are Already Playing Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Even as eager fans are still anticipating its launch, some unscrupulous players have reportedly begun experiencing “Echoes of Wisdom” after the game’s ROM emerged on various torrent sites earlier this week, prematurely by five days. This early leak occurred just a week following an announcement from one person boasting about playing the game ahead of time and inadvertently revealing some of its gameplay details.

Echoes of Wisdom ROM Leak Mirrors the Tears of the Kingdom One

History mirrors the past once more as Echoes of Wisdom, similar to its predecessor in the extensive series, found itself pirated before officially launching. Specifically, unauthorized copies of Tears of the Kingdom surfaced around late April 2023, and one such copy ended up being shared online on May 2, a full ten days prior to the game’s scheduled release date.

The leak of “Tears of the Kingdom” wasn’t ignored, leading to Nintendo shutting down two well-known emulators, Yuzu and Citra. The halt in development for Yuzu came after Nintendo accused it of aiding piracy, stating that the emulator was utilized to play over a million unauthorized copies of “Tears of the Kingdom.” Meanwhile, the demise of 3DS emulator Citra was an unfortunate side effect, as it was developed by the same team behind Yuzu. The surge in Yuzu’s Patreon donations following the leak of “Tears of the Kingdom” was another contentious issue that probably didn’t aid the developers in their argument that they weren’t profiting from piracy. The creators of Yuzu, Tropic Haze, agreed to pay Nintendo $2.4 million in damages to settle the case in March 2024.

Even though Tropic Haze halted Yuzu development well before the project was completed, a new team took the open-source code to create Suyu, a Switch emulator, as a playful jibe at its predecessor’s demise. Suyu, pronounced “sue you,” is one of the emulators being used by pirates to enjoy the recently leaked version of Echoes of Wisdom, along with Ryujinx. It remains uncertain whether this leak will trigger another crackdown on emulator and piracy activities by Nintendo.

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2024-09-23 02:33