Botw | Update 160 2021 Portable
This hidden technical engine change completely revolutionized the speedrunning community. It preserved precious minutes over the course of 100% completion runs, turning version 1.6.0 into the gold standard version for competitive play. 🛠️ Datamined Under-the-Hood Changes
It was a unique, low-tech way to "stand" in Hyrule, though many players found the 720p resolution of the Switch screen challenging for long sessions. ⚡ The Secret Speed Boost
If you are getting back into Breath of the Wild , let me know what you'd like to focus on next: Tell me how you'd like to proceed!
: The final version for the Wii U edition is typically listed as 1.5.0 , as the VR and specific Switch-related performance boosts were exclusive to the newer hardware. botw update 160 2021
For casual fans, faster load times were a welcome treat. For the thriving Breath of the Wild glitching and speedrunning communities, 1.6.0 was a monumentally important baseline. [BotW] Why is there a update? : r/zelda
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: During E3 2021, Nintendo released a major teaser trailer for the then-unnamed "Sequel to Breath of the Wild," which we now know as Tears of the Kingdom . ⚡ The Secret Speed Boost If you are
from the Nintendo Labo VR Kit. This allowed players to experience the entire game in a basic VR mode, toggled via the in-game options menu. Drastic Loading Time Reductions:
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: In addition to VR, this update utilized "boost mode" for the Switch’s CPU during loading screens. Comparisons showed that load times for fast travel were reduced by nearly half , sometimes dropping from 26 seconds to just 14 seconds. For the thriving Breath of the Wild glitching
The leading theory at the time—later confirmed by data miners—was that . Instead, it was a compatibility patch designed to support a specific Switch console firmware update (version 12.0.0+).
The core reality behind is that it refers to Version 1.6.0 of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , an update originally deployed by Nintendo in late April 2019. However, it spiked dramatically in search engine interest throughout 2021 because millions of players rediscovered the patch due to viral YouTube shorts, a massive wave of new physical cartridge prints, and the speedrunning community’s deep-dive investigations into its hidden "boost mode".
From a technical standpoint, each new update for Breath of the Wild is , meaning it includes all the fixes and features from every previous version. So, a player with Version 1.6.0 also has all the content and stability improvements from Versions 1.0.0 through 1.5.0.