Nintendo and Koei Tecmo talk about how Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment came to be

Yosuke Hayashi and Ryota Matsushita, who were the producers behind Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment have revealed that this time it was Koei Tecmo who approached Nintendo with an idea, rather than the other way round. Hayashi and Matsushita, both felt that the overall theme of the Imprisoning War would be ideal for a new Warriors title after playing through The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Hayashi: We all eagerly awaited the release of Tears of the Kingdom – I personally played the weekend immediately following its release. I felt like the game was sending us a message of something like “Make a Warriors game set in the time of the Imprisoning War!” After the weekend I spoke to Matsushita saying, “Let’s make it!” and we drew up a plan.

Matsushita: In truth, I had also actually been putting a plan together before he spoke to me (laughs). I felt like the ‘seeds’ of a Warriors game were scattered all over the place.

Aonuma: On the Nintendo side, during Tears of the Kingdom’s development, Fujibayashi established in detail exactly what the Imprisoning War was. And after it was finished, he said to me, “Maybe we could ask Koei Tecmo this time too?”, but I responded with “No, let’s wait to hear from Koei Tecmo first” (laughs). It was almost immediately after that that they contacted us.

Thanks to Greatsong1 for sending in the news tip!