Nintendo is set to release The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom—Secrets of the Zonai in October 2026, a 424-page hardcover book that gathers art from Tears of the Kingdom, sketches, designer notes, storyboards, concept art and other extras. The official description says readers can start their journey with Secrets of the Zonai, then move through more than 50 pages of illustrations, character art and promotional images, nearly 300 pages of behind-the-scenes material and more than 80 pages of Hyrule history.
The book includes contributions from Eiji Aonuma, Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Satoru Takizawa, and it lands as Nintendo’s latest farewell to the era that began with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2017. That stretch, which the article describes as the Wilds era, has already produced two spinoff games and a full sequel, and the 2026 release is being framed as a closing tribute to the last ten years of Zelda.
Breath of the Wild launched in 2017 and reset the series for a new generation, making this book more than a simple art collection. It arrives in Zelda’s 40th anniversary year, with the franchise now looking back even as it prepares to move forward.
The tension is that the goodbye comes before the next chapter has really begun. A new 2D Zelda is set for 2027, but for now the focus is on a hardcover volume that revisits the mysterious past of the Zonai, carries the story up to the events of the game and seals off the Wilds era with one last official look behind the curtain.
That makes October 2026 the hinge point for fans: a farewell to the Breath of the Wild age, and a marker that the series is already lining up what comes after it.
