After weeks of grinding Tears of the Kingdom speedrunner sets a new world record before stepping away from the game

A speedrunner has set a new record for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and they’re not in any rush to improve on that time.

Tears of the Kingdom offers hundreds of hours worth of gameplay, but for some, the fun lies in getting to the credits as quickly as possible. That’s certainly the case for Player 5, who has just managed to blast their way to the very top of the Tears of the Kingdom speedrunning scene by beating the game in just 40 minutes and 57 seconds. 

It’s a mind-blowing time, and you can check out the video below to see how they managed to pull it off. Bear in mind that it does showcase pivotal points in the game, including the end, so if you’re still roaming around Hyrule getting distracted from the main story, then you might want to give it a wide berth for the time being.

A look at the speedrun tracking website Speedrun.com shows that the player in second place has managed a time of 41 minutes and 47 seconds, putting Player 5 a whole 50 seconds ahead of the competition. Describing their run, the player says, “4 scans to get the Topaz and some time loss in the Recall split, but otherwise, it was extremely clean.”

Despite not taking very long in practice, this super-low time is the result of weeks, if not months, of work. Now, content with their effort, Player 5 isn’t tempted to try for an even faster finish. “That’s probably it,” the player says in the video. I think I can probably call it on Tears of the Kingdom Any%.” They reiterate their intention to call it a day when, as the end cutscene plays, they’re asked about attempting to get 40:56. “My bad, I don’t think I’ll be able to get it,” they reply. “I will not be going for it.”

Whether or not Player 5 changes their mind and takes on the challenge again in the future remains to be seen, but what they’ve already managed to achieve is nothing short of incredible.

Interestingly, the speedrun record for Breath of the Wild currently sits at 23 minutes and 42 seconds, meaning that for all of Link’s fancy new abilities, such as Ascend, Fuse, and Ultrahand, traversing this version of Hyrule is, by comparison, a much lengthier process. That being said, there’s every possibility that there are tricks waiting to be uncovered in Tears of the Kingdom that will see the sequel completed in a speedier fashion in the future.

Ready for another adventure? Check out our guide to games like Zelda.