After the success of Hyrule Warriors, it seems that Nintendo is exploring opportunities for more Hyrule spin-offs. The company has filed for the “Hyrule” trademark in the US and Japan, as recently revealed documents show (via NeoGaf).
Documents from the US Patent and Trademark Office reveal that Nintendo applied for the trademark just days ago, on October 21st. As for the Japanese trademark, the country’s JPO office reveals that Nintendo applied for the mark in September 2014.
Could this mean Nintendo is looking to make more Hyrule games? It’s not a far fetched idea, considering the success of Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U. The trademark category is listed as “Programs for consumer video game machines”, which is the general category video games are put in to. So we can definitely rule out that the trademark is for anything other than games (such as merchandise etc.).
We wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo ran with the Hyrule concept and released a bunch of games. Hyrule Golf and Hyrule Party, anyone? Of course, it could also just be a preemptive protection for the trademark. After all, the cost of a TM application in the US is just $300.
A different, and entirely possible reason for the Hyrule trademark, could be the upcoming Zelda Wii U game, which might have a “Hyrule” subtitle.
