Legend of Zelda Wiki “reclaims independence.”

The Zelda Wiki is leaving the Fandom collection of wikis over “corporate consolidation” and is “reclaiming independence.”

The unofficial Legend of Zelda Wiki announced that it was publicly splitting from its old host, Fandom, and going independent. The website cites “corporate consolidation” as the driving factor behind the decision.

Zeldapedia, and other game wikis, exist as a resource for players of those games. The wikis often compile video game lore, secrets, and more in an easily searchable database, and popular game wikis in particular can receive hundreds of thousands of views a day.

The Zelda Wiki opened up in 2005, and until 2017, was an independent website. It transferred over to Gamepedia, which was subsequently bought out by Fandom, Inc. Fandom is a collection of wikis and websites dedicated to various games, movies, and TV shows. Fandom has also earned a reputation as being slow, ad-heavy, and cumbersome to view, which goes against the original intent of wiki-style web pages.

The team at the Zelda Wiki cut ties with Fandom and opened up a new website, called Zeldapedia, following its public announcement: “Following Fandom’s recent buyouts and questionable staffing decisions, we feel we have no choice but to do our part to keep the internet free from corporate consolidation.”

Even though most of the series is self-contained, the Zelda series has many connecting stories, so a wiki to read them all is helpful. Picture: Nintendo

The buyouts, of course, are referring to the recent acquisition of a number of websites, including Gamefaqs, a website where users could upload guides for video games, and Giant Bomb, a popular video game community.

“We strongly urge our fellow wiki communities hosted under Fandom to make the same decision and to help build independent wiki alliances such as NIWA and SEIWA, free from corporate monopolisation and control. For those who are currently employed at Fandom, we urge to you unionise while you still can,” the statement continues.

Corporate consolidation has been rampant in the video game sphere for a while now, as Microsoft continues its quest to acquire Activision Blizzard in the largest buyout in gaming history, nearly $100 billion AUD. Sony, for its part, invested heavily in FromSoftware, the developer of Elden Ring, and now owns 14 per cent of the company.

Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.