The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom preorder guide

If you’re looking to buy yourself a ticket aboard the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hype train and preorder the game ahead of its May 12th launch, you might as well get some cool extra bonuses. Some retailers are offering free preorder incentives like a wooden plaque or an art print, which are a nice bonus that doesn’t cost anything extra. Or, super-fans willing to plunk down extra money can get the fancy Collector’s Edition with lots of accouterments (if it ever becomes available again, sadly).

So which way to preorder nets you the most benefit? There’s already one method that allows you to save $20 on the game, but that’s only on the digital version and exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Here, we’ll go over the small handful of preorder bonuses for the physical edition of Tears of the Kingdom so you can make your purchasing decision in one place, easy-peasy.

These are the best incentives when it comes to preordering Tears of the Kingdom for its regular $69.99 price and getting a little something-something thrown in.

Best Buy is including a free art print with the physical cartridge version of the game. It’s the key art for the game that we’ve all seen frequently, which looks great, but be aware that there’s no indication of its size.

The arguably more interesting preorder incentive is GameStop’s offer of a free wooden plaque that looks pretty cool. But the trade-off with this exclusive preorder gift is GameStop requires you to claim it in-store. I can’t believe GameStop expects me to go outside on the day I should be inside playing the game nonstop.

Walmart’s incentive is a free Master Sword wall scroll. Unfortunately, after Walmart quickly sold out of a golden-colored wall scroll that was limited to 5,000 units, it came back with a black wall scroll that sold out, returned, and sold out again. The black scroll is also “limited,” but there’s no mention that there’s a set number, so perhaps it might crop up once more.

While a little more expensive at $74.99, we’d be remiss not to point out that Costco is also getting in on the preorder mayhem. Right now, the popular wholesale retailer is offering members a Zelda-inspired PowerA Protection Case with each purchase, which includes a physical version of the upcoming Nintendo Switch title.

We’ve already got a little explainer on where you can get the Nintendo Switch OLED The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Edition, which is now readily available. It’s a beautiful-looking console, with gold Joy-Cons and a white dock all decked out in Zelda graphical adornments. If you want one for its $359.99 asking price (which does not include the game), you can get one now from Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, or Nintendo.

If you’re buying the special Zelda-themed Switch OLED, you might as well complete the look and preorder the Tears of the Kingdom Edition of the Nintendo Switch Carrying Case for $24.99 at Best Buy. It’s decorated with matching markings to the special-edition console, includes a screen protector, and is set to launch on May 12th with the game. Unlike the Zelda-themed Switch Pro Controller, this one hasn’t completely sold out during the preorder window (at least not yet).

Lastly, let’s finally talk about the elusive white whale of Zelda preorders. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Collector’s Edition is the requisite expensive bundle of the game with a bunch of added fancy swag included. In it, the standard cartridge version of the game is accompanied by a metal steelbook case to look fancier on your shelf, along with a poster, collector pins, and a small art book that all together cost $129.99.

The preorders at retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, and Target sold out very quickly and periodically cropped up again for short stints, but it’s still currently unavailable. It’s possible it may come back with more availability like the Metroid Dread Special Edition did, but there’s definitely no guarantee that’s happening before or even after May 12th.

Update May 6th, 12:38PM ET: Adjusted availability for several items and added Costco’s preorder deal for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.