The Legend of Zelda mobile game reportedly in the works at Nintendo

Nintendo is reportedly developing a new mobile game based on its hit RPG series The Legend of Zelda. It will most likely follow the previously-announced Animal Crossing title, which the report says will be released later this year.

The Wall Street Journal cites sources "familiar with the matter" but there were no details regarding how the game might play. The report also states that The Pokémon Company is working on a new mobile title to follow last year's smash hit Pokémon Go.

That new Pokémon title is reportedly a card-based game, one that could replace the existing Pokémon Trading Card game available already on mobile devices.

Nintendo announced its intention to develop mobile games in-house with the aid of developer DeNA in 2015, announcing that it would release five games by March 2017. That hasn't happened, but the games that have been released have been hits.

Perhaps not the huge hits Nintendo expected, but WSJ reports that the three games that have been released brought in less than ¥20 billion (£136.5 million) during the last financial year, ending 30 March.

Social app Miitomo, released in February 2016, was the first product of Nintendo's endeavour, followed by Super Mario Run in December. The latest game was Fire Emblem Heroes, which launched in February.

Each title has been free-to-play in some form, with Miitomo and Fire Emblem generating money from in-app purchases. Super Mario Run generated its revenue from an ability to buy the full game once players had exhausted the limited features of the free version.

During this period developer Niantic and The Pokémon Company (which Nintendo owns a 32% stake in) released its global phenomenon Pokémon Go, which has often been mistakenly attributed to Nintendo despite the company not getting a massive slice of the profits.

A mobile Zelda game was inevitable as soon as Nintendo announced its mobile games would be making use of its biggest IPs, and now certainly seems like a good time to be working on one.

Nintendo Switch launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been a big hit for Nintendo both commercially and critically, following its astounding run of perfect scores – including IBTimes UK's own.

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