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For anyone wondering how to fix Tears of the Kingdom not launching, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Tears of the Kingdom is the latest release from Nintendo in the Legend of Zelda lineup. Following on from Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom promises an exciting new adventure. With all new abilities like Fuse and Ultrahand, Tears of the Kingdom follows Link in his adventures, meeting new characters, seeing new maps, and always exploring. With all that on offer, the last thing gamers want is to pipped at the post by the game not launching. So, is there any fix?
Let’s get into it.
How to fix Tears of the Kingdom not launching
There has been no official reason provided as to why Tears of the Kingdom may be not launching for some gamers. As such, the issue could be caused by a variety of sources, so we’ve compiled a list of potential fixes that you can use to try to address the problem that you are experiencing.
- Make sure you have enough storage
- Verify the game files
- Make sure Tears of the Kingdom is fully updated
- Contact Nintendo Support
Let’s explore those a bit more.
Make sure you have enough storage
The first thing we would recommend checking if Tears of the Kingdom is failing to launch, is to make sure that your system meets the minimum requirements. Since Tears of the Kingdom was designed for the Nintendo Switch device family, there should be no issues with the hardware, but there may be an issue with storage.
Tears of the Kingdom requires roughly 16.68GB of storage space. The Nintendo Switch has 32GB. This should be enough to run Tears of the Kingdom, but if you have other games downloaded, then we would recommend looking into getting a high speed SD card to run Tears of the Kingdom on. If you’re unsure where to start with that, head over to our guide to the best microSD cards for Switch to get started.
Verify the game files
The second thing we would recommend, is insuring that the game downloaded correctly by verifying the game files. Fortunately, this is easy to check. Simply:
- Navigate to the Home menu.
- Select System settings.
- Scroll down the menu on the left and select Data Management > Software.
- Select Tears of the Kingdom.
- Hit Check for Corrupt Data.
Make sure Tears of the Kingdom is fully updated
The next thing to do is to make sure that you have the latest version of the game downloaded. To do this, you need to have access to the Internet, so make sure you Internet connection is stable.
- Navigate to the Home menu.
- Hit the Tears of the Kingdom icon (do not start the game up.)
- Press the + or – buttons (these can be found on your controller).
- Hit Software Update > Via the Internet.
Contact Nintendo Support
If the issue continues to persist, we would recommend contacting Nintendo Support. Their help page can be found here.
Why is Tears of the Kingdom still locked after release time?
It has been known to happen in the past that some games don’t unlock on the dot of release. Sometimes, despite purchasing a pre-order, the eShop can take some time to update. This can range from a few minutes to a few hours. If you are unable to unlock the game despite the release time passing, we would recommend leaving the eShop and waiting a few minutes before trying again. It may also be worth checking if other gamers you know are experiencing a similar issue.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this and will update the page regularly as new information comes in. Make sure to check back in periodically to ensure you don’t miss anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
We know many people have questions that they want answers to with this issue. With that in mind, we’ve done our best to answer some of your most pressing questions below.
Has there been a Tears of the Kingdom update released?
Tears of the Kingdom had a 1.1.0 patch added before the launch.
Why won’t Tears of the Kingdom launch?
If the game is available to play in your area, but is not launching, the cause could be a variety of issues. Unfortunately, there has been no official reason for why some gamers might experience such an issue at the time of writing.
