A special commercial for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is running in Japan for just 24 hours, and those around the world who have watched it are crying foul. Not because they’re jealous that the ad is a Japan-exclusive, but because, for many, the footage in it constitutes spoilers.
There’s an unofficial upload of the commercial embedded above; note that it has some heavy spoiler warnings in the title, if you’re trying to stay in the dark about anything and everything Breath of the Wild.
It’s a brief but breathtaking trailer. We see the game’s expansive setting, new and familiar cast of characters and a considerable amount of gorgeous action sequences. One of those is a very short scene of Link running alongside a gigantic dragon, which fans quickly pegged as the newest, most exciting moment of all.
We had yet to see whether the race of gigantic beasts would be included in Breath of the Wild, although there was speculation on whether dragons would appear in the game.
But when Nintendo of America pulled out the triumphant dragon reveal for a tweet about the Japanese ad, the company’s followers revolted.
The new commercial for The Legend of #Zelda: Breath of the Wild in Japan features something we haven't seen before... pic.twitter.com/xrWisaLo6x
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 20, 2017
@NintendoAmerica GODDAMMIT NINTENDO YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO SPOIL IT
— Dunc (@Garporeon) February 20, 2017
@NintendoAmerica SPOILERS
— Stonepa (@Stonepa11) February 20, 2017
@NintendoAmerica No spoiler please
— aonuMARRE (@frite_bleue) February 20, 2017
@NintendoAmerica so go ahead and spoil it then
— SBW (@SBW_64) February 20, 2017
Others with less rigid definitions of spoilers have clapped back at their fellow Nintendo fans, mocking them for what’s seen as over-sensitivity.
@NintendoAmerica SPOILER: GAME CONTAINS LINK.
— Joey (@bobert941) February 20, 2017
@NintendoAmerica y'all are silly... This is by no means a spoiler. There's too many dragons in Zelda lore to know anything from this picture
— GreatFairyToad (@Aqua_Toad) February 21, 2017
The comments drudge up the age-old debate on what counts as a spoiler, and whether knowing that something’s present in a game, TV show, book, movie or otherwise beforehand should be enough to sink the whole experience. It’s doubtful that anyone won’t play Breath of the Wild just because they know a dragon appears in it — especially since we know virtually nothing else about the creature and how it factors into the overall story. Still, for those who wanted to jump into the Switch launch title fresh, this very public showing of a cool, never-before-seen moment may understandably be disappointing.
The wait continues, but the Wii U and Switch game’s release date draws closer. Breath of the Wild arrives March 3.
