Nintendo may have moved onto the next entry in the franchise, but fans haven’t yet given up on Breath of the Wild. Someone going by the name of Waikuteru on YouTube just released a video showing a brand new multiplayer mod for the game which allows two people to play together with splitscreen. The mod itself is by a person going by the name of Kirbymimi.
“In today's video, we will be taking a look at the brand new Multiplayer Splitscreen mod for Zelda Breath of the Wild from Kirbimini,” Waikuteru announced. “Splitscreen version will be released on July 29, 2022. It's currently in beta, so expect issues to be fixed in the future.”
According to the official description by Kirbymimi, “it’s been a dream for years to enter the vast world of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and explore it with a friend. Imagine being able to sneak into a Bokoblin camp, one player jumps out to distract them while the other players lays a trap from behind. Imagine being able to have shield races down the icy cliffs for the best time. Imagine working together with your best friend to obtain what it takes to take down Ganon. This mod makes all that and more a reality!”
The mod however comes with a few caveats. “The mod allows up to four players to play simultaneously through the entire game, but there are some limitations that are currently being worked on that are important to know about before starting,” Kirbymimi explained. “The largest limitation currently is that a split screen mode has yet to be implemented and all players must share the screen with the first player. This makes it harder to see or control at times for other players. Because of this, a button has been added that teleports other players to the first player so everyone can stay together. It works quite well, but will still probably be better once split screens have been implemented.”
While the mod is going to be released later this week, the beta has already been around for long enough to be attracting attention. Players have been leaving all kinds of positive comments on the official forum and the Discord channel set up by Kirbymimi.
This isn’t the first time that multiplayer has been implemented into Breath of the Wild. Work apparently began on such a mod shortly after the game was released in 2017. When a YouTuber by the name of PointCrow started offering $10,000 to anyone who could make a multiplayer mod for the game last year, several people tried to pick up the mantle. This on the other hand is the first implementation of multiplayer to have been made readily available to players, previous attempts remaining at the closed beta stage.