In the end, 1.6.0 teaches us something about game preservation and player freedom. Nintendo had every right to patch their game, but communities will always find ways to play the version they love most.
So, boot up your Switch. Download the 19MB. Read the cryptic patch notes. And take one last walk through Hyrule Field—not as a speedrunner hunting for a clip, but as a traveler saying goodbye to an old friend.
1.6.0 was not for the player. It was for the machine . By late 2019, Nintendo’s internal Breath of the Wild team had long since scattered: some to Tears of the Kingdom ’s physics engine, others to Skyward Sword HD , a few to the Switch Pro hardware testbeds that would never see daylight.
However, data miners and community testing identified general stability improvements in the following areas: zelda botw 1.6.0 update
But before we dive into that, let’s look at what else 1.6.0 did include—some of which flew under the radar.
. While the official patch notes were brief, the update included significant "under-the-hood" performance improvements that were widely documented by the community.
: Unlike traditional first-person VR, this mode maintains the game’s standard third-person perspective but allows players to move the in-game camera by physically looking around with the goggles. Compatibility In the end, 1
: Backend modifications included updates to actor metadata and the addition of new game data flags like Ichigeki_Pedestal_Appear and DisplaySpecialMode . How to Update To ensure your game is on the latest version:
The 1.6.0 update pushed the Nintendo Switch hardware to its limits.
For users on emulators like Eden, ensuring you have the latest DLC and update files is key. The process usually involves: Gathering all update and DLC files. Download the 19MB
To give you perspective, here’s how 1.6.0 stacks against earlier patches:
Beyond the headline VR functionality, the 1.6.0 update introduced major system-level optimizations that drastically cut down the game's notoriously long loading screens. Analysis from the gaming community verified substantial changes to how the system handles assets:
Released on April 25, 2019, this software patch for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild initially appeared to be a niche update tailored specifically to a hardware gimmick. However, tech analyses quickly revealed that version 1.6.0 fundamentally altered the game's loading efficiency through an unlisted hardware optimization.
That’s it. No Korok mask tweak, no Trial of the Sword cheese fixes, no new gear.
One of the most complex glitches in BotW history was "Apparatus Storage," which allowed players to store momentum from shrines. This was used to perform a "Firestorm"—a hurricane-force wind blast that could launch enemies into space. Ver 1.6.0 introduced a sanity check on Link’s velocity vector. If the game detects a speed value exceeding what is physically possible via normal physics (like using a Magnesis cannon), it caps the velocity. While you can still do "Wind Bombs" (a separate exploit), the apocalyptic Firestorm is gone.