Zelda Breath of the Wild Wii U PC Port Runs at 60 FPS

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now running natively on Windows through an experimental PC port that uses static recompilation rather than traditional Wii U emulation.

Developed by ryderclanky, the open-source project is called BotW-Native and targets the American Wii U version 1.5.0 of Nintendo's acclaimed open-world adventure.

According to the official BotW-Native GitHub repository, the project converts the game's original PowerPC instructions into C++ code, allowing them to execute on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Graphics are handled through a Vulkan backend built using technology adapted from the Cemu emulator, while the game itself runs through a native recompilation framework.

The developer demonstrated approximately 60 FPS on a laptop equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and 16GB of RAM.

Working features include the opening sequence, combat, map navigation, fast travel, and exploration of Hateno Village, complete with NPCs and functioning shops.

The port also supports fullscreen mode, adjustable rendering scale, and basic keyboard controls.

However, several features remain incomplete, including certain visual effects, controller mappings, and cutscene text.

The developer has not confirmed full-game compatibility, and extended gameplay sessions across Hyrule remain untested.

BotW-Native builds on Ishaan Kalra's earlier BotWRecomp project, adding Windows support and a Vulkan graphics backend.

There is currently no prebuilt download. Users must compile the project from source and provide files from their own legally obtained Wii U copy of Breath of the Wild.

The project remains unofficial and is not affiliated with Nintendo.