Late last year, Nintendo surprised fans with an unexpected follow-up to the 2014 Wii U game Hyrule Warriors with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on the Switch. In addition to keeping up the musou 1 vs. 100-style gameplay, Age of Calamity also served as a canon prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, showing the events that led to the destruction of Hyrule as a result of the Calamity.

During a long-awaited Nintendo Direct presentation in February, Nintendo revealed that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will receive 2 DLC expansions later this year, adding new playable characters, new weapons, new skills, and much more. Nintendo also revealed that a purchase bonus will be awarded to those who buy the DLC. And late last month, some fans discovered a way to download the DLC for free, but that exploit has now been fixed.

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A couple of weeks ago, some European Zelda fans noticed that the purchase bonus for the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity expansion pass was accidentally made available for download on the Switch eShop. After downloading the bonus without purchasing the DLC, fans were also given free access to the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity expansion pass. Now, Nintendo has announced that players who utilized this exploit will lose access to the purchase bonuses and expansion pass when the first wave of DLC is released.

The announcement was made today via an email sent out to users who utilized the exploit in order to get free access to the Age of Calamity expansion pass and purchase bonuses. Fans who utilized the exploit currently have access to the purchase bonus items and expansion pass. However, after apologizing for the error, Nintendo explained that "once Expansion Pass Wave 1 – Pulse of the Ancients becomes available, these items will no longer be usable unless the Expansion Pass is purchased." Additionally, this will not affect players' save files or their ability to play the game.

Nintendo also clarified that users affected by the exploit will also be able to purchase the Hyrule Warriors expansion pass via the eShop once the first wave of DLC is released. The first wave of DLC in the expansion pass, is set to add an expanded playable character roster, new weapon types, new challenges in the Royal Ancient Lab, and more challenging enemies to the game.

While details on specifics of what will be included in the DLC have yet to be revealed, fans expect characters like Purah and Robbie to be made playable, as they seemed noticeably absent from the base game's roster. This year marks The Legend of Zelda's 35th anniversary, so fans are hoping for some more surprises to come their way soon.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is available now on Nintendo Switch.

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Source: Nintendo Life